Marked for Death
by Snow Tigra
Summary: Finished. Becoming king is hard enough, but when one is also hunted down by the Marked Ones, a group assassins who use living tattoos as their weapons, what can one do but hunt down their leader and demand to know why theres a price on his head? AU
1. teaser/prolouge

This story should not be posted until i am finished with Fire Mated (which i'm guessing is another five parts or so) but I wanted to see what you guys thought. So here's the teaser, please tell me what you think.  
  
Plus I want to see if you can guess who the two boys are *smirk*  
  
---Snow Tigra  
  
Title: Marked For Death  
Series: Gundam Wing  
Author: Snow Tigra  
Rating: R, to be safe?  
Pairing: Heero and Duo obviously… and possibly a few others  
Warnings: AU, tattoos, assassins, kings, fantasy, mythical beasts and magic  
Spoilers: yeah… you just keep thinking there are, not a chance!  
Archive: Fanfiction.net  
Disclaimers: All characters save for the gundam cast are mine.   
  
Marked for Death  
Teaser  
  
"Tell us a story Sorata." Said one of the youths.  
  
The young man before them stood dressed in normal palace garb of loose by brightly colored clothes. His long red hair was pulled into two very thin braids which were tied at the bottom and swayed with his movements. Smirking to himself the man turned around and attempted to frown at the boys while he placed his hands on his hips. Though in truth he could never bring himself to be angry with the two boys. "You belong in your room Highness." As was etiquette he did not address the boy standing just behind the young prince, nor did he meet the boy's shining eyes. You did not address the prince's Shadow.  
  
The boy standing behind the prince snickered softly, not acting his title of Shadow at all. "We couldn't sleep, not without one of your stories."  
  
The prince firmly nodded his agreement.  
  
Sorata chuckled. "All right then. But I will only tell the story when you are in your room, tucked in and ready for sleep. Now hurry back to your room or we shall all be in trouble."  
  
The two boys responded by racing down the hall with their silent steps, turning around the corner quickly without a sound. Sorata stood at his place in the hallways and just shook his head, chuckling softly. He loved those children, almost as if they were his own. Glancing around him at the long stone hallway he started after them, following them to the room. Children were children and he decided to allow them a small amount of time to tuck themselves in and discuss in excited voices what type of story he would tell them tonight.  
  
How ironic that the King's Guard would spend his nights reciting the tales of old to a young prince and his Shadow. It certainly wasn't what he'd expected to do when he'd been assigned this job, but then he wasn't complaining. Not one bit.  
  
Upon reaching the children's room he carefully undid the door and stepped in. The room was lavish in its decoration, like so many things in this palace. Tapestries covered the walls filled with scenes that delighted the children. Swirling patterns of the sea and sky created pictures of far away lands one could only reach in their dreams or a well told bard's tale. Finely carved wood furniture from only the most skilled of artisans scattered the room while animal skin rugs covered the floor. Truly the room of a prince.  
  
Stepping into the room he found the boys in their places, ready to hear the story. The young prince sat perched on his bed, his eyes wild with anticipation, while his Shadow was curled on the floor, leaning against the side of the bed. His thick yet worn blanket was wound around his shoulders, comfortably waiting for the story that would guide them on their way to their dreams. Sorata smiled at the two waiting boys and took a seat at the end of the prince's bed, where he could see them both.  
  
"So, what story should I tell tonight?"  
  
The prince smiled and glanced down at his Shadow, giving his signal that for this night the boy could decide what story. At first this tiny movement would have confused Sorata but in his years at the palace he'd learned the boys were quite close friends. When the prince let his Shadow decide the story that meant something had gone wrong earlier that day, and this was the prince's way of saying he was sorry.   
  
The Shadow smiled his thanks to the prince. Standing up he cupped his hands around the prince's shoulder and whispered into the boy's ear. After a moment the prince nodded and the boy sat back down and pulled the blanket back around his shoulders. But now his normal smile had lost a little of its gleeful charm, turning slightly more serious.  
  
"Do you remember the story of the great fire?" The prince asked softly.  
  
Sorata nodded slowly.   
  
"Tell that one."  
  
Leaning against one of the carved wooden bedposts Sorata began his tale.  
  
"The night of the great fire. It is a day that will be remembered until the end of time, by Izardl and Human alike."  
  
The two boys settled back on their respective beds and curled up there, watching Sorata with wide eyes as he told the story they'd grown to love, and asked for most often. Oh he had other stories that they enjoyed just as much, but this one seemed to be their favorite.  
  
"Now, the Izardl are very rare creatures indeed. They look just like us humans, but are different. They are stronger, stronger then most men, able to pull trees from their roots and chase down the fastest of the great cats. Scales cover their skin, making them look slimy to the touch, but their skin is actually quite smooth. Their eyes are slitted much like the stray toms that roam the street and their tongues are forked like a snake's, which earned them their name.  
  
"On the night of the great fire a woman was found with a Izardl child. Now, for Izardl and a human to mate in this world is a most grievous sin and when this mother was found the entire city ordered that they be destroyed. Luckily the mother was able to escape from the crowd and flee.  
  
"But she didn't get very far." The prince murmured sleepily, his eyes already starting to slide shut.  
  
Sorata nodded. "No, she didn't. The king's guards encountered her on the street, running with her child beside her, his small legs barely able to keep up. The guards stopped her and demanded to know where she was going, but she pushed past them, knowing she mustn't let the angry townspeople catch up with her.  
  
"This made the guards very angry and they also started after her.   
  
"Meanwhile the townspeople decided to catch the woman and her child and get rid of them forever. In the old part of the city they brought torches and burning oil. One group chased the woman into the old part of the town, while the other group surrounded her and started the fire.  
  
"They trapped the woman in," the prince's Shadow whispered softly, a look of fear in his eyes.  
  
Sorata nodded grimly. "They did indeed. The surrounding buildings and the fire trapped her and she didn't know what to do.   
  
"But the townspeople weren't very smart. They let the flames become too high, and soon the fire was sweeping through the entire city, burning down buildings and people alike. The fire spread right up to the castle walls until the entire city was lit like the middle of the day!  
  
"People rushed to put out the fire, rushed as quickly as they could. And do you know what they found when the fire was gone?"  
  
Sorata addressed his question to the prince but found the young boy had already drifted off to sleep. So when the prince's Shadow answered Sorata did not hesitate to acknowledge the boy, even though that was forbidden.  
  
"They found the mother's body… but no child." The Shadow murmured very softly.  
  
"Yes, the child was gone."  
  
The Shadow smiled lightly to himself and curled up in his blanket as Sorata stood. That was the end of the story. He never quite understood why the children liked that story so much; it was so dark and grim. It didn't even have a good ending. But for some reason the boys loved it, especially the prince's young Shadow.  
  
Though, on that night, he received a clue as to why the story was liked so much.  
  
"I know what happened to the boy, Sorata," the Shadow whispered softly as he lay there on the floor.  
  
Sorata stopped in his steps and turned to look back to the boy, cocking his head in question. "Oh?"  
  
The Shadow nodded and yawned, his eyes sliding shut. "I saw him that night… the night my parents died. I saw him run and hide." Another yawn. "I saw him… escape."  
  
Sorata's eyes widened.  
  
But he was never able to ask the boy more about what he had seen. Because that night was the night Sorata disappeared forever.  
  
**  
  
end of teaser  
  
so... have a peeked your interest? 


	2. part 1

Chapter 1  
  
*Eight Years Later*  
  
Deep black eyes roamed the room as the boy emitted a light sigh. He only listened half-heartedly as the person kneeling before him recounted the problems they were having with their crops and why they couldn't pay the taxes.  
  
Couldn't pay taxes, it was all the same problem, always the same complaints.  
  
Sighing softly he let his eyes roam and focused on the room, he'd visited this room so rarely in his eighteen years of life. How strange it was now to be sitting on the throne of the king. High pillars reached for the ceiling, their intricate patterns swirling up, around and out of view. Embroidered cloths were draped over the walls, depicting the great kings of the past. The great men in his family that had caused all these problems in the first place. His eyes paused on the newest tapestry, and narrowed as he looked at the face there.  
  
His father's cold blue eyes stared back at him, the man's long black hair cascading down just past his shoulders to disappear behind his back. He wore a tunic made of the light lavender shade worn by all the kings, with matching clothes of black and ornaments of matching darker colors. A gold circlet crossed his forehead, the same circlet which now actually rested across the forehead of his son.  
  
Frowning the prince rubbed his temples and redirected his attention to the man kneeling before him and still explaining his dire situation. Raising his hand he indicated for the man to stop, and the peasant before him closed his mouth.  
  
Wufei sighed softly. "I understand the yields this year are not as we all had wished. However the taxes are used to feed the palace and the others who are not so fortunate enough to own fields of their own. As ruler I can not allow my people to starve."  
  
The peasant opened his mouth to protest but Wufei fixed him with a narrow glare and he shut his mouth.  
  
"The taxes have already been lowered as much as I dare. I can not, and will not, lower them anymore, especially not before the planting season is over. You may return with your plea once the crops have been harvested and we shall deal with this problem then. Dismissed."  
  
The man was led out, his problem dealt with. Meanwhile Wufei shifted in his hard seat, promising himself that there was only a little while longer to go. Then he could retire for the day back to his room. Maybe take a long horse ride with his Shadow and forget the day's troubles… or how much work he had to do in his father's absence.  
  
The next set of petitioners was quite interesting. There were two of them, one walking behind the other with his head hung low and his eyes on the floor. A member of royalty with their Shadow in tow? No, that couldn't be right, the boy wasn't dressed in the normal dark shades reserved only for those of Shadow status. Not to mention that the method of raising a prince or princess with a Shadow wasn't as common as it used to be.  
  
Speaking of which, Wufei noted his own Shadow stepping through the door at the other side of the room and making his way toward the throne. No one else in the room acknowledged his existence, as they all knew that he didn't exist. That strange boy dressed in shades of dark purple and black, his long braid swinging like a tail, was merely an extension of the prince, and not a real person.  
  
Wufei turned his attention back to the petitioners as the woman in lead stepped forward.  
  
She wore clothing befitting royalty certainly, yet not of the highest grade. He instead came to the conclusion that she was simply a high paid messenger. Her long blond hair was pulled back into an intricate plat that had been redone many times during her travels, or else it couldn't have stayed nearly so neat. Likewise her dress showed little sign of dust or road wear. They most likely arrived by carriage.  
  
"Speak." Wufei murmured. He knew they weren't allowed to present their case until he gave them permission.  
  
The woman bowed quite low, while the boy behind her remained still, his eyes trained on the floor and nearly hidden by his unruly brown hair. Wufei noticed with a small amount of suspicion that the boy was dressed in very little clothing, the dark green cloths arranged to show off his body. Perfectly tanned skin glistened in the sunlight that streamed in from the windows. Wufei frowned as he noticed the small black collar fastened around the boy's neck. He didn't need a seerer to tell him what this boy's status was.  
  
"Your Highness, I was sent by Her Lordship from the eastern kingdom with this gift. She wishes me to present your father, and you, with this young man, as a token of her good will."  
  
Wufei did his best to hide his disgusted scowl, and instead resorted to clutching the edges of his throne tightly, until his hands hurt and turned white with the pressure.  
  
"Another slave?" The voice of his Shadow, who was now standing next to his throne, showed definite scorn for the woman before them. A scorn that Wufei shared, yet could not acknowledge in front of his court.  
  
He gritted his teeth and looked at the boy once more, willing him silently to show some sign, some response to what the Shadow had called him. But no, that was forbidden. It was forbidden to hear the words of a Shadow unless the prince acknowledged them as his own, thus no response was given.  
  
Wufei stood up in his seat and regarded the woman with a narrowed glare, and watched her cringe before him. She even took an involuntary step backward.  
  
"Tell your Lady that we accept her gift, but only because I will not submit the boy to her punishment if he were refused." He paused for a moment in consideration. "And let her know that such gifts are not looked well upon. Perhaps next time she will come up with something more… appropriate."  
  
The woman stared in shock for a moment, then quickly regained her composure and remembered her manners. Directing her eyes to the floor she nodded and bowed. "I will inform her Lordship of your answer."  
  
The woman trembled slightly and quickly fled from the room, barely managing to not trip on her skirts on her way out. Another group started to step into the room but Wufei angrily waved his hand, signaling he was not accepting any more petitions for the day. One slave was enough to ruin his already dropping mood. It only served to remind him of how much he hated his father.  
  
"But Highness, there are still more waiting outside." The advisor, Darrin, of Wufei's father protested.  
  
Wufei turned and silenced him with an angry glare. "No, I am done for the day. Tell the others to return later. Provide them with rooms if need be, but today I am through."  
  
With those words he turned away from the attendant and stepped down from the throne, heading for the doors which led to his chambers. He needed peace and quiet, he needed a place to unwind and calm himself or he knew he would snap at the next person who talked to him. He hated to lose his temper, but it was becoming far too easy these days.  
  
"Fei."  
  
Wufei turned at the words of his Shadow and gave a weak smile to the boy standing beside him.   
  
"What about him?" His Shadow indicated the slave boy who was still standing in the middle of the room, his eyes fixed on the floor and his hands clasped together in a manner of submission. Wufei sighed lightly.  
  
Turning he walked up to the boy and addressed him. "Do you have a name?"  
  
"Heero," the boy said softly, without looking up. Slaves did not look up at royalty unless given permission. And they did not speak unless spoken to.  
  
"You will follow us and we will decide what to do with you."  
  
With those words Wufei turned away and headed for the hallway, not at all surprised that the slave boy fell into silent step behind him, his eyes still fixed on the floor as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. Walking past the door, Wufei's Shadow fell into step beside him and the three boys exited the main visiting room.  
  
No one spoke as they made their way through the hallways. Servants around them stopped in their duties to bow to the prince and pointedly ignore his Shadow, then jumped back into their own work, whispering softly about the strange slave boy who now followed the king.  
  
Who was he? What was his purpose?   
  
Wufei reached his private receiving room and let the others in, then shut the door securely and dropped into a large chair with a loud sigh. The slave boy stayed near the door, nearly becoming a living statue, while the Shadow chuckled lightly.  
  
"Don't laugh Duo, you wouldn't be in nearly as good of a mood if you had to deal with those annoying complaints for a good half of your day."  
  
The Shadow chuckled and leaned back against the wall. "And they say there are no good points to being a Shadow to the prince."  
  
Wufei shot him a glare but it wasn't really meant. He didn't have the energy to be angry, but then he never had the energy to be angry with his friend.  
  
"So…" Duo pushed off the wall and walked over to Wufei, resting to sit on the edge of the same chair with him. Both boys regarded the slave before them with serious expressions. "Why did you accept the gift?"  
  
"You know as well as I do what he was intended for, Duo." Wufei frowned. His father, the king, unfortunately was well known in the country for his taste in young boys. King Chang was not the kindest king this country had ever seen and his perverse taste in young man was allowed simply because he was king. He truly hated that side of his father. But then, he hated most sides of his father. Luckily, the king was currently on some long trip, so Wufei now had the chance to fix a few of the problems his father had left him. The only problem was that his father was expected back soon, so any thing he tried to fix could be destroyed in a matter of seconds.   
  
"So do we set him free?"  
  
"We can't, you know that." Wufei frowned. "Heero, were you… trained?" He hated asking such questions; it made him sound like he was planning on taking the boy to his own bed.  
  
Heero nodded, but said nothing more.  
  
"Trained from birth to be a bed toy," Duo spat the words out with disgust.   
  
Wufei nodded sadly.  
  
Duo stood back up and walked around the room, pausing by the window to peer out the thinly cut slit into the courtyard. "So what? How are we supposed to keep him safe if your father returns?"  
  
"Simple, we give him to someone. Someone who will treat him like a decent human being."  
  
"Good luck," Duo murmured.  
  
But Wufei only responded with a small smirk. After a moment Duo turned and regarded him with a suspicious look.  
  
"You aren't possibly thinking…"  
  
"Duo, you know very well that you are the only boy in this palace he won't dare touch."  
  
Duo's eyes widened. "But he… I… can't… No!"  
  
Wufei's lips turned into a soft smile. "The king has decreed it shall be."  
  
**  
  
Duo shut the door to his room hard and threw his arms up in the air. Ridiculous! Impossible! Unbelievable! Inconceivable! But yet he couldn't deny that the proof stood in front of him, silent with his eyes attached to the floor.   
  
"What in the world am I going to do with a slave?!" He asked the room loudly.  
  
The boy didn't answer him and Duo sighed. Unbuckling the belt which held his sword at his chest he tossed it onto the bed and laid down next to it, staring at the ceiling. What in the world was he supposed to do?  
  
Turning in the bed he faced the boy before him.  
  
"You're name is Heero, right?"  
  
The boy answered with a small nod.  
  
"Ok, well you heard the prince… I guess you're kind of my personal servant now."  
  
"It is my pleasure to serve you, my Lord."  
  
Duo ran a hand through his bangs, pushing them away from his eyes. "You don't have to… jeez. Look, you don't need to stare at the floor. You can look at me; I won't punish you for it. And, well, stop looking like a scared puppy. I swear I'm not going to hurt you."  
  
The movement was slow at first, very timid. The boy raised his head and peered cautiously through his bangs up at Duo. After a second he straightened up and looked right at Duo. Duo could see him swallow with nervousness and he watched the boy's hands twist together just slightly, showing just how scared he was.  
  
Duo smiled softly. "See? I uhh give you permission to meet my eyes, at any time. And, I'm not a Lord. In fact, you're of higher rank then me."  
  
The boy blinked, his eyes showing confusion at those words.  
  
"You can speak freely when we are alone. I swear I won't hurt you for voicing your mind. And you can trust my word."  
  
The boy swallowed and bit his lower lip for a second. "Rank?" He asked softly.  
  
Duo blinked back at the boy, his own confusion showing. Was it possible that this boy didn't actually know? "Do you even know what I am?"  
  
Heero shook his head.  
  
"I'm the prince's Shadow. I share everything with him but don't actually exist to any one but him. Kind of a… a physical representation of the people he is responsible for. I get punished if he does something wrong, I share his food and room as he must share with the people of the country. Or at least I did… things have changed a little since the king went off on his trip."  
  
Heero tilted his head just slightly, regarding Duo with an interested look. But the look was soon gone and he looked away as if he were afraid.  
  
Duo sighed and stood up, crossing the room until the two boys were standing by each other. At the movement Heero dropped his head again, looking back to the floor. Was he afraid still? Duo sighed softly and lightly laid a hand on the boy's shoulder, amazed at the fact that someone the same age as him could have been raised to be so submissive.   
  
"I don't exist to anyone outside of the Prince. So for me to have a sla- no a servant, is unheard of. I'm new at this, Heero." Duo took a deep breath. "I'm not going to hurt you, because frankly I know how you feel. Look… can we try to be, well, try to be friends? I mean you can talk to me and I won't hurt you for any thing you say, even if it's to tell me that I'm the most insensitive person in the country and that you would rather see me burned with hot oil then ever look at me again."  
  
The boy in front of him remained silent for a moment, but Duo could see his eyes searching the floor, as if he were looking for an answer. Finally Heero's head moved in a timid nod, only a slight movement that would have been missed by anyone who wasn't watching for it. After a second more the boy nodded again, this time more noticeably.  
  
"So you're not my slave. I can't change your rank and free you, I don't have the power to, but I'd at least like to be friends. Or, if nothing else, at least be able to talk." Duo stepped back and turned toward his bed, crossing his arms and glancing out the window with a sad look in his eyes. "It would be really nice to have someone to talk to besides Wufei. Someone who would actually acknowledge the fact that I exist."  
  
"I would like that," came the soft but shaky reply.  
  
Duo turned around to find a very soft and tiny smile had crossed the boy's lips. It disappeared as soon as Duo noticed it, but that didn't deter the braided boy any. He flashed Heero a bright smile of gratitude, which the timid servant boy could only help but return with a tiny smile of his own.  
  
**  
  
The next morning found Wufei in his father's study, glaring down at a pile of papers and scrolls with various writings and signatures. He didn't look through the papers, didn't move them around, instead he just glared at them willing his look of pure hatred to start the papers on fire. After a moment he chuckled darkly at that thought and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes.  
  
Everyone knew normal humans didn't have magic powers.  
  
Raising his hand he undid the tie in his long black hair and ran his fingers through it to calm himself. It was early in the morning and already his stress level was reaching its limit. How in the world did his father deal with a life style like this day after day for most of his life? If nothing else he now understood why his father was so cranky all of the time.  
  
But it wasn't the taxes or complaints that were slowly driving him mad. Nor was it the mess his father had left behind. He'd been trained nearly since birth to handle the problems of his country, molded until he could take the seat occupied until then by his father. To an extent he knew what to expect when he became king. And he was actually looking forward to the day when he was put in charge.  
  
Currently, however he was not in charge. The shadow of his father's return still loomed over him. Any minute his father could come bursting through that door in a wonderful, but short lived, mood, nearly bubbling with news like any servant girl. But the return of his father meant he'd go back into training and Duo would be punished again. He was trying to fix the kingdom, all the while knowing that if he made any moves that were too bold Duo would be on the whipping pole almost instantly.   
  
The door to his father's study rattled just slightly, indicating there was someone wishing entrance. Wufei quickly put the tie back in his hair and tried to appear calm.   
  
"Enter."  
  
The door opened to reveal the man who seemed to be the bane of Wufei's existence. Darrin was King Chang's chief advisor and the worst possible brown-noser that Wufei had ever met. Darrin had been around as long as Wufei could remember in his youth, and the over muscled man seemed to take particular pleasure in torturing Duo. In Wufei's youth the advisor always followed them like a hawk, always eager to catch them doing something wrong. Then he'd always be the one to drag Duo off to be punished.  
  
Needless to say Wufei hated this man with all his heart.  
  
"Your highness," Darrin said in greeting, giving Wufei a brief bow.  
  
Wufei did his best to conceal his complete hatred of the tall man before him. Darrin looked nothing like an advisor should. He looked more like a well-trained warrior, who'd let his training slip just recently so that he was gaining a little more gut. The only thing that kept Wufei in a good mood was his thoughts of how much he would enjoy punishing this man once he gained the throne from his father.  
  
He simply nodded for the man to continue.  
  
"I wish to speak with you about the current whereabouts of your Shadow. You know very well that he isn't allowed a room of his own, much less a servant! The etiquette of the Shadow system-"  
  
"Says that only I acknowledge his existence except in the case of him being punished." Wufei's eyes narrowed. "In my father's absence I am in charge of the people and my Shadow as well. Which means, quite clearly, that if I give him his own room, his own plate to eat off of, and his own servant to tend to him you have no say in the matter." Wufei had to restrain himself from hissing those words in disgust.  
  
"It is my duty to see you make no mistakes in your father's absence."  
  
"He will return to his former status when my father returns, as you know. Until then you will speak no more of this."  
  
Darrin practically steamed at Wufei's words but kept himself in check.  
  
"Now, I asked you here for a reason. My father was scheduled to return from his journey yesterday, was he not?"  
  
Darrin swallowed his anger and nodded. "Yes, my Lord, however we have received no word from him or his messengers."  
  
Wufei frowned. "I am expecting two messengers of my own soon. I sent two to check on my father. Please be sure to tell me the minute they return."  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Dismissed."  
  
Darrin gave a bow then turned and opened the door stepping out. For a moment Wufei noticed Duo standing at the door, but Darrin closed it quickly before Duo could step through.  
  
A moment later it opened once again and Duo stepped through, a frown on his face.  
  
"You ever get the impression that he just doesn't like me?"  
  
Wufei couldn't help but smile. They were both well aware of how much Darrin hated both of them.  
  
"So how is…"  
  
"Heero?" Duo pulled himself up so he perched on the edge of Wufei's desk. "Waiting outside the door, like any other servant would. Having a servant is strange enough but he's so timid… I swear he acts like he's made of glass and one wrong move and I'll shatter him."  
  
"You know what he was trained for."  
  
Duo sighed and nodded. "I know. And I hate it. At least I actually got him to look at me. He even spoke last night, but only a few words." Idly he played with the end of his braid, watching the strands glimmer a strange red in the sunlight from the window. "Fei, honestly. What am I going to do with a servant?"  
  
Wufei smiled softly. "You're going to have someone to talk to aside from me. And when my father comes back I'm going to make sure he remains safe with you."  
  
"Yeah, I guess." Shrugging to himself he tossed his braid back over his shoulder. "So, speaking of the old idiot, isn't he due back already? I mean I'm enjoying my separate bedroom and my actual chair at the dining table - beats the floor any day - but he's late isn't he?"  
  
"Unfortunately, yes. I sent out two messengers for him the moment I woke up this morning but they won't return for a few days. I'm worried. My father may be one of the worst kings this country has known, but he's never late. He should have at least sent a messenger by now."  
  
Duo jumped off the desk and landed on the floor, the sword on his belt clicking once against his boot. "Permission to leave your side, Highness," he said. His normal grin was gone, his face completely serious.  
  
"Huh? What for?"  
  
"Permission to take a horse and do some looking of my own. If there's one thing I learned from being your Shadow, it's how to hear things I'm not supposed to. I can ask people that royal messengers can't. I'll look around the city, ask around and see if anything comes up. Maybe a messenger was sent and he's sleeping in the local Inn with some woman or boy. You never know."  
  
Wufei frowned and pondered this for a moment. Duo had a valid point that he could go places most others from the palace couldn't. But at the same time…  
  
"What are you going to do with Heero?"  
  
"I'll take him with me of course, so I won't be alone. I promise it'll only be for a day, I'll be back before sun down with whatever news I can find."  
  
Wufei still frowned, but he nodded. "Granted. But be careful. Something about this whole set up is strange… I don't trust this." Wufei stood up and leaned over the desk toward Duo. "Don't you dare disappear on me."  
  
Duo smirked. "Hey, I'm your Shadow. You couldn't get rid of me even if you wanted to." His smirk dropped away. "But seriously, I'll be back tonight. I promise I'll be back just in time to rub it into Darrin's face that I'm not leaving for good."  
  
"Good luck."  
  
Duo nodded and gave a wave, then exited the room, leaving Wufei to once again glare at the papers before him and sigh. If only he could go looking for himself. It had been so long since he'd been on a decent horse ride… 


	3. part 2

Chapter 2  
  
An hour later found Duo and Heero at the stables. As Duo went about setting up the supplies he would need for his own horse - no one would even look at him if he asked for help - Heero stood off to the side tugging at his new clothes.   
  
When he'd arrived he'd worn little to nothing, a tunic that was slit up the sides to show off his legs and was baggy at the top to show off his chest. It was the type of clothing people raised to be professional 'bed warmers' wore, and he had to admit it wasn't all that uncomfortable. But now Duo had given him a different set of clothing for the horse ride. The baggy pants were just a bit too long, folding up around his ankles, yet he was allowed to keep a baggy top with no sleeves, thankfully. But the clothing made him feel choked and restricted… he just wasn't used to ever wearing so much.  
  
Heero glanced up to see a large black stallion step out of the stables, Duo holding the reigns. A side pack was attached to the flimsy saddle near the horse's rear, providing them with enough space to carry simple tools and supplies. It wasn't too full considering Duo planned on being back before nightfall. Duo's long sword hung at his side, well out of the way of hitting the side of the horse.  
  
Duo offered a hand down to Heero… who reluctantly reached for it.  
  
"You've never ridden a horse before?"  
  
Heero shook his head.  
  
Duo clasped his hand around Heero's wrist and pulled him up to sit behind him, his legs resting comfortably on the saddle packs. Heero swallowed and fumbled around for something stable to hold on to.   
  
"Just wrap your arms around my waist and hold on. I would have gotten you your own horse but since I figured you didn't know how to ride… Just hold on and I promise I'll make sure you don't fall."  
  
Heero nodded and carefully placed his hands around Duo's waist, holding on lightly. All the while he cursed himself angrily. His job, his whole purpose in life was supposed to be touching people and letting himself be touched to please them… so why was wrapping his arms around this boy's waist so difficult? Thankfully his new 'master' didn't seem to be bothered by his skittishness. Heero counted himself quite lucky on that point.  
  
A snap of the reigns and the horse jerked forward, jumping into a steady pace down the road. Instinctively Heero tightened his arms around Duo's waist, burying his face in Duo's back as he caught his breath. The horse below him moved quickly, the hooves making a constant rhythm to be followed and soon Heero grew used to it. He silenced his surprise and slight fear enough to open his eyes and glance around them. It wasn't long before he found himself smiling very quietly as the trees flew by and they moved into the town. He was starting to understand why royalty seemed to like their horse rides so much.  
  
The day passed quickly with Heero spending most of his time on the horse's back, watching as Duo asked around. Once out in the city many people did speak with Duo, but not before glancing around worriedly. Were they looking for palace guards? Was it really that much of a crime to speak with a Shadow?   
  
Some greeted Duo with great smiles, some with hugs, and some with just nods. There were many that didn't speak with him and even ignored his questions, but then that didn't seem to bother him. He seemed quite used to it, actually. A good amount of boys his age greeted him with smiles and waves, calling out his name, but their smiles were tempered with eyes of sadness. One thing Heero did notice is that all these boys who seemed to know Duo didn't recognize him at first, and all worked in low jobs. The type of jobs that only orphans were desperate enough to take…  
  
He finally gathered up his courage to ask about it when Duo was back on the horse, and they were heading out of the town and it was well past midday. His arms were once again wrapped around Duo's waist, and he tightened them just slightly.  
  
Duo seemed to get the hint. "We're stopping up here. I'm hungry and tired… if I remember correctly there should be a waterfall just over this hill and past a thin line of trees. I used to go there as a kid with my parents. Almost there."  
  
Heero didn't give him any response and only waited. Soon, just as Duo had said, they came to a small line of trees which grew very close together. The horse made its way through the trees easily enough and suddenly they were standing in a large clearing, surrounded by trees on three sides and a hill on the fourth. A small waterfall curled down the hill, trickling into a small stream, the crystal clear water shimmering in the sunlight. Heero couldn't help but stare.  
  
Duo jumped down off the horse first, then lifted Heero down to the ground, receiving no protest from the boy. Duo grinned and walked the horse to the stream, where he dropped the reigns and the horse began to munch on the grass.  
  
"I haven't been here in a lifetime it seems!"   
  
Heero walked slowly to the stream, eyeing the clear water. It was beautiful, almost too beautiful to be real-  
  
"You were gonna ask something?"  
  
Heero's head jerked up and he glanced at Duo in surprise, then realized that yes, he had indicated that. Frowning slightly he dropped his eyes to back to the stream.  
  
Duo took a seat on a rock near him and slowly began to remove his black leather boots. It was so odd. Heero expected the boy to say something, to command him to speak, or at least to urge him on. But instead Duo just sat there; waiting patiently as he carefully set his boots aside and undid the buckle for his sword belt.  
  
"Your… family…" Heero said softly. He took another deep breath and glanced carefully at Duo, through his bangs. "Where…?" He was perfectly capable of creating full sentences, but getting used to talking to someone who was supposed to be his master like they were equals was still something he was trying to get a grasp on. It was going to take time.  
  
Surprisingly the normal grin on Duo's face didn't fade away. Instead he wrapped his arms around one knee and rocked slightly, leaning back and forth in a slow motion as his eyes traveled over the stream and up the waterfall.   
  
"They're dead," he said in a normal voice, almost as if he were making a comment on the weather. Heero blinked in surprise at his tone but said nothing else.   
  
Duo continued after a moment. "They died in one of the Burnings. There was a huge one in our city… a lot of people lived in the older part of the town and thanks to a little fire that got out of hand a lot of kids were left homeless that night. I think I was one of the lucky ones, to be picked as the prince's Shadow… but sometimes I'm not so sure."  
  
For a moment his expression did change to sadness, but it faded back to a grin quickly as he stood up and stretched. In one fluid movement he removed the dark purple shirt he wore and tossed it over one of the rocks, leaving him bare chested. Heero stared in amazement and horror at the crisscrossing scars which covered his entire back beneath that shirt, the brand of a slave burned into his right shoulder. Then he blinked and Duo was gone, the braided boy having jumped into the water with a loud yell of enjoyment.  
  
"Ah! It's colder then I remember!" Duo popped his head above the water and swept his long bangs from across his eyes, grinning at Heero. "It's not that bad though… come on, it feels good after spending all day in the city and on a horse."  
  
For a moment Heero considered it, but then he shook his head. Instead he just removed his own baggy pants and boots, contenting himself to sit in the oversized shirt, which acted much like the tunics he was used to, and let his feet dangle in the cold water.   
  
"Suit yourself." Duo said with a laugh, once again disappearing under the clear water.  
  
So many scars… Heero wondered if showing them off had been intentional, but it seemed like it wasn't. Before him Duo moved around in the water happily, dunking his head under and coming back up again for air, only to disappear once again. Heero watched him swim over and sit under the waterfall, laughing as the water rolled over his skin. It was a rather small waterfall as they go, but it was perfectly sized for one human to stand under.   
  
Heero's mind moved back to the scars and he frowned. He knew all slaves were branded when they were young, the mark burned into their back right shoulder where the mark was permanent, even cutting it off wouldn't cover it completely, because the scar would show. The only exception to that rule were those who were raised like he had been. Those raised for their bodies had no marks, instead they were raised to be completely dependant on their masters, so even if they did run away the idea was they wouldn't be able to survive on their own. That was the idea.  
  
But the mark of a slave wasn't the only scar which covered Duo's back. Heero had seen the rest of the marks, long straight lines crisscrossing over and over again to create a strange net-like pattern over his entire back. Heero knew exactly what those marks were. Duo had been whipped. And he'd been whipped many many times.  
  
Was that what it meant to be the prince's Shadow?  
  
He couldn't understand it. How could Duo be so happy all the time? In the two days that he'd known the boy, no even less then that, all he'd seen was the boy grin and smile and laugh. Occasionally his expression would turn serious but then he would suddenly be smiling again. Heero shook his head lightly. The happiness had to be a mask. He just couldn't fathom the idea that someone could be so cheerful after living a life that would leave so many scars, literally. Duo must actually hate the prince for every thing he'd been put through.  
  
Heero pulled his feet out of the cold water and stood up, glancing around the field. He watched the horse for a moment, noticing the large animal as it munched happily on the grass. His eyes moved over the trees, climbing the rocks until he was looking at the top of the waterfall.  
  
His eyes widened and a chill flowed down his spine.  
  
"Heero?"  
  
Beside him, still in the water, Duo must have noticed Heero's movements. Heero made a point to remember that thought, that Duo had quite an eye for detail.   
  
Lifting his arm he pointed to the top of the waterfall.  
  
Duo quickly stumbled out of the water to stand next to him and let his eyes follow to where Heero pointed. His own eyes widened and Heero heard him mutter a soft curse.  
  
Before Heero could stop him, Duo was dashing forward. Using his bare hands and feet he expertly climbed the rocky side of the waterfall, better then most animals could. Heero paused for a second and scanned the sides of the waterfall. It didn't take him long to find a simpler route, across the river. Wading through the water quickly, not caring about his wet clothes, he climbed up the other side and met Duo at the top.  
  
He found Duo kneeling by a body, lying face down in the water. From below he'd only seen the body's arm, hanging over the top of the waterfall, but now he saw it was an older man, wearing rich fabric that was crusted with mud. His body had caught on a line of rocks, keeping him from washing further down stream.   
  
Duo jumped into the water, careful to not let the current pull him over the fall, then grabbed the arm of the man and pulled him up onto the shore next to Heero. Both boys helped turn the man over, and Duo covered his mouth with the back of his hand.  
  
"Oh yuck…"  
  
The man's face had been beaten pretty badly, either from a large blunt object or simply floating along and hitting many rocks on the way. His skin was pale, washed out of almost all color. The eyes were in the worst shape of all, apparently having become fish food somewhere along the way… But Heero's eyes were drawn to the large gash which crossed the man's chest, splitting his clothes to show the pale skin beneath.  
  
"Someone killed him."  
  
Heero nodded at Duo's words, he swallowed. "Who?"  
  
Duo moved quickly, pulling at the cloth around the man's neck. His hand shook as he pulled out a long chain, a ring attacked at the end. He muttered another curse and snapped the ring from the man's neck.  
  
"One of the king's messengers! Stay here, I'm going to grab the horse."  
  
**  
  
Duo raced down the side of the waterfall as fast he could, his foot catching so that he tumbled most of the way. Landing on the grassy ground he jumped up and raced for the horse, completely forgetting to check and see if he'd hurt himself. He wasn't worried about himself at the moment. Instead his mind flew over the possibilities of what he'd just seen.  
  
Someone had killed one of the king's messengers. One of the king's messengers that Wufei had sent out in search of his father! That could mean any number of things, most of which could have been mere coincidence, but at the same time something in the back of his head told him this wasn't a coincidence. But he didn't know! He had to find the other body to be sure… if there was another body.  
  
Jumping on the horse he maneuvered it through the trees, leaving their discarded clothes forgotten on the grass. He quickly found another route to ascend the hill without so many slippery rocks and which wasn't nearly so steep. There had to be another body, he had to find it to be sure. He just had to.  
  
The horse reached the top of the waterfall and Duo urged him across the top river where the water was shallow. Grabbing Heero's arm he pulled the servant boy up onto the saddle then kicked the horse into a gallop, racing along the side of the river. His bright violet eyes scanned the edge of the shore, looking for something… anything…  
  
"There."  
  
Duo pulled the horse to a halt as Heero pointed away from the shore, toward a cluster of trees. Both boys jumped off the horse and raced to the body, but they found this one dead as well. Not to mention that the land around him was splattered with blood from the battle which had killed him.   
  
The body lay sprawled across the ground, this one with several thrashes, a good number of which distorted his face so he couldn't be identified. Whoever had killed this man and the other messenger didn't do a very good job of cleaning up his mess. Instead they'd just abandoned the body to rot and left the scene; they hadn't even tried to dispose of the body to hide the act.  
  
Duo swallowed and pushed the man over onto his back. Gritting his teeth he slipped his hand beneath the shirt in search for the same chain and ring. A moment later he found the chain and snapped it away from the man's neck.  
  
"Another messenger?" Heero asked softly as he approached.  
  
Duo nodded and pocketed the ring and chain. Then he lifted the sword and dug it hard into the ground. "Help me… help me bury him. There's a smaller sword in the side saddle pack… we can't just leave them lying here."  
  
Heero wordlessly followed the order. Taking the small sword from the pack he knelt next to Duo and both boys set to work.  
  
**  
  
By the time they were done the sun had long since set past the horizon. A large crescent moon lit the path before them as they rode back toward the castle. Both boys were covered with dirt and mud from the work of digging large enough holes for both bodies, and didn't have the energy to take the time to wash themselves off. Their clothes which had been abandoned on the shore were now stuffed in the side packs, nearly forgotten.   
  
Duo perched on the saddle, doing his best to keep from nodding off from the steady rhythm. Heero was curled quietly in front of him, riding normally, but his head was slumped forward and he nearly slid off the horse a few times. Smiling softly to himself Duo gently pulled the boy back so he could rest his head against Duo's chest. Was it just his imagination or did the small servant boy snuggle closer to him?  
  
He really didn't understand the servant boy. Heero acted timid and as if he were made of glass, yet his eyes didn't hold the innocence one would expect from such mannerisms. The way he'd reacted around those dead bodies… he hadn't even flinched. Anyone raised as a servant being so timid wouldn't be exposed to such sights would they? But then whatever Heero's training had consisted of it wasn't physical punishment. No, physical punishment in his case would have damaged his body. It wasn't fit for a bed warmer to have the scars of being whipped crossing his body…  
  
Duo blinked as he realized something. When he'd taken off his shirt Heero must have seen his own scars! He was so used to them and so used to people not noticing him that he hadn't thought of the impact they might have on Heero. Yet he couldn't remember the boy really reacting to his scars.  
  
Heero's behaviors completely confused him. But then they were both new at this friendship thing. At least Heero had opened up more to him today, despite the morbid circumstances. He was making progress, slowly yet surely.  
  
The castle gates opened for him, allowing them entrance, Wufei must have ordered them to acknowledge him when he reached the gates. Duo led his horse into the stables and glanced down at the sleeping boy in his arms. Heero looked so peaceful, it was a shame to wake him…  
  
"Heero?" Duo said softly.  
  
The boy's eyes fluttered and drifted open, glancing around for a moment with a hazy confused look, then they widened and his entire body grew stiff. Dropping his head his body trembled slightly.  
  
"I apologize, I did not mean to fall asleep."  
  
Duo just smiled. "Don't worry about it. You looked quite tired. We're back now. Do you have enough energy to walk back to the room?"  
  
Heero nodded slowly, keeping his eyes on the ground.   
  
Duo got off the horse first, sliding off the saddle with practiced ease, then he reached up and helped Heero down to the ground. The servant boy immediately grasped the side of the saddle as a wave of dizziness hit him and he steadied himself. A moment later he let go and straightened up, glancing timidly at Duo though his bangs.  
  
"I'm not mad at you for drifting off to sleep," Duo said as he locked the horse in its stall. "I could barely stay awake myself."  
  
Heero swallowed and nodded, apparently accepting the explanation.  
  
"I need to go talk to Wufei… why don't you head back to the room and get some sleep? You look about ready to collapse."  
  
"You don't want me to accompany you?"  
  
Duo shook his head. "No, I need to talk to Wufei alone. I'll see you in the morning."  
  
Heero nodded and bowed slightly, then headed off toward the main part of the castle. Duo took a moment to lean against one of the support poles in the stable. His entire body ached from the digging, but at least it had dulled to a steady throb. He really needed sleep, but this couldn't wait.  
  
**  
  
The sun had set and dinner was long past over, but Wufei just couldn't quite make himself leave the table.   
  
The candle flames burned low, nearly reaching the polished holders with their short flames and wicks. Across from him sat a single chair, still pushed in as no one had sat there during the meal. All other plates were cleared away save for his and the one sitting across from him. It was the place where Duo sat while King Chang was away… the place Duo was finally allowed to have at the table.  
  
As children Duo had always had to live off of Wufei's things. Part of the training in the Shadow system made Wufei share the food from his plate, which he would have gladly given all of to Duo if it made the boy happy. But no, Darrin and his father had never allowed him to be that generous, for the king always had to maintain an air of power, even if it was unfair.  
  
Wufei was always given a seat at the table and a plate full of rich food, all he could ever eat. Meanwhile Duo was forced to sit on the floor next to his chair, treated much like the hunting dogs that occasionally collected the table scraps the other nobles would toss to the ground. Duo wasn't even given a plate… and he could only eat when Wufei offered him food. And even then for every piece of food he gave Duo he received glares of disapproval… as if it were not proper to take pity on those lower then him.  
  
He'd hated it. He'd hated seeing Duo so thin while he always could walk away with a full stomach. A few times he tried to sneak food for Duo, but that always resulted in them being caught by Darrin and Duo being whipped as punishment. So, instead, Wufei learned to ignore the glares and gave Duo a fourth of his meal, which seemed to be acceptable, even though he wished he could give the boy more.  
  
One of the first things he'd done when his father left was ordered an extra plate added to the table for Duo. The night that King Chang left was the first night Duo had been allowed to sit on his own chair at the table with his own plate. Even then Duo had only picked at his food, intimidated by the other nobles, but he soon got over it and cleaned off his plate two full times.   
  
But now the plate sat across from him, still covered with food untouched.  
  
Where was Duo?   
  
He said he'd be back before the sunset… but that was hours ago…  
  
Wufei sighed and dropped the fork that was in his hand.  
  
Behind him he heard the door slide open and someone step in. Turning his eyes widened as he saw Duo standing there, covered nearly head to toe in dried mud. His shirt was gone and dirt smudged his face and skin, a few pieces caught in his hair which was falling out of a very untidy braid.  
  
Wufei jumped out of his seat and nearly raced over to his friend. "Duo! What happened?"  
  
Duo wordlessly reached into his pocket and pulled out the two chains with the rings hanging at the ends. He frowned as he held them out for Wufei to see.  
  
Wufei had no trouble identifying them. They were the signet rings worn by royal messengers from his own castle. The only messengers that had been sent out recently were the ones he'd sent after his father…  
  
"They're dead. Murdered. We found one in the river and another further up stream." Duo leaned back against the wall near the door, his exhaustion clearly showing. "I meant to get back sooner but we had to bury the bodies… I didn't want to leave them for the wild animals…"  
  
Wufei nodded and placed a hand on his Shadow's shoulder, mindless of the mud. "It's all right. You did give me quite a fright though."  
  
"They were murdered, Fei. Some one didn't want them to reach your father."  
  
Wufei nodded once more and a very serious frown crossed his face. "This is bad news. Best not to say anything though until we learn more. Don't worry. Go back and get some sleep, then we'll talk more in the morning."  
  
"Sorry to make you waste all that lovely food," Duo said, nodding toward his spot at the table. "It looks absolutely delicious, but I doubt I have the energy to even lift a fork right now."  
  
"No worries. You know there will be enough to make up for it tomorrow morning. Now go get some sleep. You need it."  
  
Both boys left the dining room, heading down the hall toward their own rooms. Neither noticed the shadowy figure who'd been watching from the servant's doorway. For that person too, disappeared into the night. 


	4. part 3

Chapter 3  
  
ANGST WARNING  
  
The next morning Duo and Heero were washed up and the mud was completely gone. Heero was given back his small slitted tunic, much to his pleasure, and Duo had rebraided his hair to make up for the mess it had been in the day before. Heero noted it was the only time he'd ever seen Duo take down his hair.  
  
Now that he thought about it, as they walked down the hall toward the dining room, he'd never seen Duo take down his hair. Keeping hair at such a length was quite strange, even if one was a noble. Most people kept their hair at lengths that were manageable unless they had many personal servants. Long hair required a lot of care, more then any well-to-do person or peasant was willing to deal with. Duo had to have the longest hair he'd seen in a long time… it was almost as if the boy never even cut it.  
  
They entered the main dinning hall, stepping right into the scene of an argument. Wufei stood in front of his chair, his fists rested angrily on the table as Darrin stood across from him. The place where Duo usually sat had the chair overturned and the plate was lying on the floor, food scattered around.  
  
Duo froze in his steps, watching the two yell at each other, Heero stopped a step behind him.  
  
"You have no right to disobey my orders! Why would you choose now, of all times, to bring this up?" Wufei growled angrily at his father's advisor.  
  
Darrin merely stood there, his hands crossed over his chest and a small look of triumph on his face. "Your father is due back any day now and I am only trying to help you, highness. You know very well that your actions concerning your Shadow these last few weeks have been incorrect and faulty. I am only thinking of your well being. What would happen if your father walked in this very moment to see your Shadow sitting at the table with us as an equal?"  
  
Heero watched as Duo's body stiffened in front of him, the boy's hands clutching into tight fists, but he made no other movement or sound.  
  
"I will take care of my father-" Wufei protested, but his voice wasn't as strong this time.  
  
"And you would sacrifice the rest of us? Think, highness, of your actions! Were your father to walk in this very moment he would punish all of us for letting you continue in this foolish act."  
  
The prince shut his eyes and hit the table with one of his fists, cursing loudly.   
  
"If you treat him as an equal he will not forget and he will remind you of it constantly. The Shadow is ignored for a reason! You and I both know this. As does your father."  
  
Wufei's eyes snapped open and he starred at Darrin in disbelief for a moment, then his eyes narrowed. "You… you would tell him." He said softly.  
  
Darrin nodded. "For your own good, so you don't make the same mistake again."  
  
The prince's eyes flickered to Duo and Heero could see the fear in them.  
  
"Let me teach him and you the lesson now, and I promise not to say anything in the future. Twenty now will save him fifty later."  
  
Wufei's body seemed to collapse and he dropped back into his chair, holding his face in his hands. Heero could see the young prince's lips quiver softly as his dark black eyes glanced toward Duo in fear and pain.  
  
Meanwhile Duo's head had dropped and he now looked at the floor, acting the way Heero did most of the time. His grin was gone and his entire cheerful manner seemed to have disappeared into thin air. This wasn't Duo! This was someone completely different that Heero had never met before. What happened to the Duo he'd known… who'd been standing in front of him only seconds ago? Heero blinked and shook his head. Twenty to prevent fifty… he didn't mean…!  
  
Darrin stepped forward and walked past Duo, pausing to eye him for a moment with a look of scorn, then walked out of the dinning room.  
  
"I'm sorry," Wufei said softly.  
  
Duo only nodded once then turned to follow Darrin. He stopped for a moment but didn't glance up at Heero. "Stay here, Heero." He said quietly, then he followed Darrin out of the room, his entire mood radiating a kind of defeat.  
  
Heero stood watching in disbelief. His mind refused to comprehend what he'd just witnessed. Duo had crumbled before his eyes, turning into a small and submissive child at the mercy of an angry and abusive parent. All Heero could think about was the broken look on Duo's face and his memory of the scars which had crossed Duo's back.  
  
Behind him he heard Wufei murmur softly.  
  
"Duo… I'm so sorry."  
  
**  
  
It seemed like an eternity passed before the door to Duo's room opened. Heero jumped up immediately from the place where he'd been sitting on the bed and ran forward, reaching Duo just in time to catch him before he crumbled to the floor.  
  
"Nice catch," Duo said in a soft and choked voice. He tried to give Heero a small smile but his face contorted in pain and it was lost.  
  
Heero quickly helped Duo to the bed where he laid him down on his stomach. Moving with careful hands he slowly lifted away the shirt which had been thrown over Duo's back and was now soaked with dark lines of blood. Pulling away the fabric he moved it over Duo's head and winced as he heard Duo hiss in pain.  
  
His eyes widened as he saw the crisscrossing slashes that now covered Duo's back. Angry red lines laced over the previous scar tissue, moving the entire length and width of his back. Whoever did this had had a lot of practice. They knew exactly how to make each slash hurt. A true expert in pain. Heero was beginning to like Darrin less and less with every minute.  
  
Heero set to work without much thought. Taking the baggy shirt he'd been given the day before for horse riding he ripped it into long shreds. It only took a second to hunt down a container for water, which he quickly brought back to the room. Then, with painstaking care he set to work cleaning each of the wounds.  
  
Duo protested at first with small cries of pain, but those soon dropped into soft whimpers. It seemed to take forever to clean away the blood and then lay fresh wet strips over the wounds. Many bloody rags later Heero was done and Duo seemed to have calmed down.  
  
Heero washed his hands in the blood soaked water, trying to get them as clean as possible.  
  
"Heero…"  
  
He glanced up toward Duo in question.  
  
The boy lay stomach down on the bed, his face tired and his eyes nearly sliding shut. But he ventured to move his arm, despite the pain, and placed his hand on Heero's shoulder. "Thanks."  
  
Heero flashed him a light smile and nodded.   
  
Duo's eyes slid shut and pulled his arm back, drifting off to a light sleep.  
  
Heero picked up the bowl and carried it carefully to the door. He moved down the hall to empty it in a waste room. Surprisingly, on his way back, he found Wufei walking toward Duo's door. Heero had to restrain himself from glaring angrily at the young prince.  
  
As far as Heero was concerned Wufei had no right to even look at Duo any more. Heero wasn't stupid, he'd understood enough of the argument between Darrin and Wufei to know that Wufei had a pretty good idea this would happen. And yet he'd still allowed it. Wufei didn't deserve to get anywhere near Duo, much less to have him as a friend.  
  
"How is he?" Wufei asked when he caught sight of Heero.  
  
"Sleeping." Heero said softly, restraining himself from further comment.  
  
Wufei nodded briefly. He opened his mouth to say something else but the words must have died in his throat for he said nothing more. Instead he merely gave Heero another nod and turned away, heading back the way he came.  
  
Heero contented himself to glare menacingly at the prince's retreating back.  
  
**  
  
Nearly a week passed with Heero nursing Duo back to health. Duo protested at first, telling the servant boy that he'd been through much worse in the past. Twenty lashes was hardly anything, compared to the number he usually got. The only reason it affected him so badly was he hadn't been whipped for such a long time…  
  
But Heero didn't listen to the protests. He didn't outright disagree with Duo; no well-trained slave or servant would dare do such a thing. Instead he merely gave Duo this look that indicated he knew best and that he wouldn't take no for an answer. Duo found out the servant boy could be quite persuasive when he wanted to. Finally Duo just stopped protesting and let the servant boy take care of him.  
  
His mind switched from protesting to thinking about the strange mannerisms of his newly gained servant. After all, what else could he really do when Heero refused to let him leave the bed and those cold wet cloths lay over his back to help it heal? So instead he considered the strange boy.  
  
At first glance he was the perfect little servant boy, trained (apparently) in many arts involving his hands and fingers. He knew when to be gentle and when to be stubborn and Duo suspected this wasn't just from his normal training. Or was it? Maybe he was also trained to be stubborn and resist in some cases to resist to heighten sexual pleasure. Either way Heero knew what he was doing when he cleaned Duo's wounds and tended to him. Which just didn't seem like the type of thing a professional 'bed warmer' would be familiar with.  
  
Another interesting thing that Duo soon discovered was that Heero snuck out late at night to steal food for him from the kitchen. That in itself was quite a feat considering Duo himself had never been able to accomplish it without getting caught. But some how Heero always managed to return with at least a loaf of bread and a small flask of something to drink, which he would then feed to Duo. He saved only a small amount for himself, and even then it was at Duo's insistence.  
  
Nights were spent with Heero rechecking the wet cloths and replacing the ones that had dried or occasionally filled with blood, but most of the bleeding had stopped that first night. Then, after he was done tending to Duo and thought Duo had drifted off to sleep, Heero curled up at the foot of the bed and slept there in a small ball.  
  
With every passing day Heero seemed to be more comfortable around Duo. His eyes rarely settled on the floor anymore, now meeting Duo's without much trouble or even a second thought most of the time. Heero even flashed an occasional small smile now and then thanks to Duo's remarks and own grins. He was slowly making the boy more comfortable and less skittish. The two even had normal conversations a couple times. They'd only lasted a few minutes but at least Heero was comfortable enough to form full sentences and not just one word inquiries.   
  
Things were progressing very well.  
  
Which only made Duo want to get out of bed and back on his feet sooner. He was growing restless!  
  
Wufei, meanwhile, was wallowing in his own guilt. He managed to hide it as well as he could, but he still couldn't get the image of Duo's defeated figure out of his mind each night when he got ready for sleep.  
  
He'd tried so hard for the past few years to make sure Duo didn't get punished. Ever since that day when Duo had first been whipped, not nearly a month before Sorata disappeared, Wufei had tried to do everything perfectly. He'd worked himself to the bone to remember his lessons and all the rules that had been drilled into his mind. He'd done everything he could to keep Duo safe ever since he found out his actions could cause such pain to his friend. But somehow he always seemed to mess up.  
  
He'd thought he could, just this once, give Duo a small measure of freedom… something he so desperately deserved for all he'd been through. But, as usual, the plan backfired and Darrin had been there to see everything crumble. That annoyance of an advisor was always there to see him fail and rub it in by leading Duo away to be whipped.  
  
Every single attempt he'd ever made to try and give Duo a better life had always blown up in his face. Why did he even keep trying when he knew it would fail? The answer was that he knew Duo deserved every small bit of happiness he could give the boy. And no matter how many times Duo got whipped or how many times he was punished he always returned with a smile on his face and thanked Wufei for the small amount of freedom he had been allowed.   
  
That small thanks almost made it worth doing again…  
  
Wufei shook his head and clasped the edge of his bedroom window, looking out at the stormy sky.  
  
No, he refused to do it again. He refused to let Duo get hurt! And yet…  
  
And yet he felt so powerless and confused.  
  
His shoulders slumped as the feeling of defeat radiated over his body. No matter what his thoughts he knew there was one truth, once again he managed to hurt his only friend. Unforgivable. Unforgivable no matter what the circumstances!  
  
Growling he slammed his fist into the wall, wincing at the pain which flowed up his arm. Almost as if in response the wind outside built up into a loud whirl, whistling through the trees and between the towers. Yes, it would definitely storm tonight. How fitting considering his current mood.  
  
Behind him he heard the door rattle. Turning he eyed it for a moment but found it still shut. Must have been the wind…  
  
Wufei crossed the room, tugging his robe tightly around his body, and checked the latch. Then he crossed the room and crawled into his bed, pausing only to blow out the candle on his bedside table and let the room drop into twilight.  
  
Rolling over under the thick blankets he rested on his back and closed his eyes. Silently he willed his thoughts to give him peace. He knew he wouldn't do anyone any good if he lacked sleep. Lack of sleep would only cause him to make more mistakes… would make Duo suffer more.  
  
Sleep was fast in coming, and he nearly drifted off a moment later. In fact he would have if he hadn't heard a strange noise off to the side. It wasn't something he could describe really… only it sounded like a smooth surface sliding against another-  
  
Something cold touched his neck.  
  
Metal.  
  
Sharp.  
  
Wufei's eyes snapped open and widened as a hand clasped over his mouth to silence him.  
  
The prince stared up in disbelief to see a figure leaning over him, holding a small, cold blade to his throat.  
  
"Where is Sorata?" Demanded the familiar voice.  
  
**  
  
Duo blinked open his eyes and glanced around the room. Lightning flashed outside his window, giving the room momentary illumination. Sitting up he glanced around again and was surprised to find the end of the bed empty. Where was Heero?  
  
Letting the cold cloth slip from his back he crawled slowly out of the bed and pulled on a long and baggy dark purple tunic. His back only throbbed lightly as the fabric brushed against it but he felt nothing else. His wounds seemed to have mostly healed over.   
  
Frowning he stepped out of his bedroom and moved down the hall. He wasn't really worried about Heero, knowing that the servant boy had probably snuck off to the kitchen to steal them some food. Instead he walked merely because he needed to. Staying in bed for so long had made him restless and he needed to get up and move around or he felt he would go insane.   
  
It wasn't long before he found himself near Wufei's room, his feet carrying him there nearly on instinct. Shrugging to himself he pushed open the door, intent on talking with his friend and making sure he didn't feel guilty for what had happened. After all, it wasn't Wufei's fault that Darrin took such sick pleasure in each whipping.  
  
He pushed open the door just as another bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating the prince's room.  
  
Duo's eyes widened in surprise as the scene flashed to light before him.  
  
Wufei lay in the bed, his eyes wide with fear as a slim figure crouched over him, holding a gleaming red blade against the prince's neck.  
  
But that wasn't the most startling part. Instead it was that the slim figure crouching over the prince was Heero! And he was covered with strange markings all over his arms.  
  
Tattoos.  
  
Duo's mind flashed in panic.  
  
No.  
  
Not possible.  
  
Not possible!  
  
Heero was a Marked One?! 


	5. part 4

Marked for Death  
Chapter 4  
  
There was no time for thought. No time to consider what had happened nor who had been involved and why. Instead all Duo could think about was that his childhood friend, the only one who had ever been allowed to talk to him for most of his life, was now in danger. And Heero was threatening him no less!  
  
No, mustn't think about that.  
  
Mustn't think about the fact that it was Heero.  
  
Duo dove forward into the room, bolting for Wufei's bed as fast as he could. He completely forgot about the wounds on his back and completely ignored the fact that he left the door wide open. Instead he was counting on surprising Heero in order to stop him.  
  
At the same time that Duo charged forward Heero whirled around and threw the small red blade in his hand. It made a whistling sound as it spun through the air, straight at Duo. The move had been reflex, done only in consideration of protecting his life. Only after he threw the blade did he realize it was Duo he'd thrown it at.  
  
Luckily Duo threw himself to the ground in time to avoid the spinning red blade. It hit the stone wall behind him with a loud thunk and Heero winced in what seemed like pain. A second later Duo was back on his feet and he slammed his body into Heero, knocking them both to the floor on the other side of Wufei's bed.  
  
Duo landed with a cry of pain as some of the nearly healed cuts on his back broke open, but he managed to mostly ignore it. Raising his fist he brought it down hard against Heero's face, causing the boy's head to hit the stone floor and his eyes to shut.   
  
Heero was knocked unconscious.  
  
Duo sat up and took a deep shuttering breath, forcing himself to relax. Adrenaline pumped through his body and he was now wide awake, but the pain from his now lightly bleeding back seemed to be what he needed to calm down and mentally retrace what had just happened. Panting lightly he leaned back against the side of Wufei's bed and ran a hand through his bangs.  
  
Meanwhile Wufei slowly moved in the bed and leaned over next to him, his wide black eyes travelling from Duo to Heero's still body on the floor. Carefully he stepped out of his bed and knelt next to the fallen servant boy. Reaching beside him he took a candle from the bedside table and lit it, holding the flame so they both could see.  
  
Before them they could now see Heero's markings in the dim light. Tattoos of various shapes and sizes now covered his arms, all artistic yet blade like in appearance. The strange designs were made with a metallic looking ink which had been tattooed into his skin. Most of the blades were of smaller size, though many were curved so they could double as throwing weapons.  
  
Wufei frowned. "Those markings were not on his arms the day he arrived."  
  
Duo shook his head. "I've never seen them… he didn't even wear sleeves. There was no way he could have hid them." He said in between gasping for breath. "Are you all right?"  
  
"Yes, he didn't hurt me. I think he only intended to have me answer his question…"  
  
Duo winced and sat up more, feeling the cuts in his back strain more. "Question?"  
  
Wufei nodded. "He asked about Sorata-"  
  
"Highness!"  
  
Both boys looked up to see a very worried Darrin standing in the doorway, holding a candle in his hand to light his way. Rumpled sleeping clothes hung over his tall body and his eyes blinked away his sleepiness. Yet, almost immediately his eyes fixed on the fallen form of Heero, whose tattoos were illuminated in the candlelight.  
  
His eyes widened and his jaw dropped a bit. "A Marked One?"  
  
Wufei's eyes narrowed and he stood up, meeting eyes with the surprised advisor. He feared he knew exactly what would come next.  
  
"A Marked One has tried to assassinate the prince," Darrin murmured.  
  
"OUT!" Wufei yelled at the advisor, causing the man to jump and jerk around to face him.  
  
"Highness…"  
  
"I said OUT!!" Wufei nearly screamed at the man.  
  
Darrin jerked once more, but this time he listened and raced out of the room, pulling the door shut behind him. Wufei growled out an angry curse and raced to his wardrobe. Throwing open the doors he quickly began changing into his clothes. He tossed a black shirt and a black set of pants to his very confused Shadow.  
  
"Fei?"  
  
"Put them on, now! We need to get out of here as soon as possible. No doubt he'll realize exactly how to use this situation-" Wufei growled again and nearly ripped the shirt over his shoulders. Digging in the back of the wardrobe he brought out two thick cloth bags which jingled with coins and attached them to his belt.  
  
Duo slipped on the clothes given to him, leaving his nightclothes to lie on the floor, still blinking in confusion.  
  
"Can you carry him?" Wufei asked, gesturing toward Heero's still body as he rushed across the room to one of the tapestries that covered the wall.  
  
"Why?" Duo asked in an angry voice.  
  
"No time. We need to leave, now! And we're taking him with us!" Wufei pulled back the tapestry and slammed his fist into the wall. Duo watched in amazement as a section of the wall moved to reveal a long dark tunnel. A secret passage!  
  
Duo walked over and picked up Heero's body, tossing it over one shoulder, but not before he'd taken two long belts of cloth and bound the boy's arms and legs. Wufei rushed over and helped him tie a gag over the servant boy's mouth, then beckoned him toward the passage, holding the tapestry aside.  
  
"I still don't understand…" Duo murmured, stepping into the dark passageway.   
  
Wufei stepped in after him and pushed the piece of wall back into place. This cut off what was left of their light and Wufei had to grope for Duo's hand, before he could start leading them down the passage.  
  
"Fei…" Duo said softly.  
  
"Before the Burnings," Wufei said in a soft voice, low enough so the echo was minimal. "They used to assign a Marked One to each and every king. That Marked One was hidden among the king's men and was there to assassinate the king if he ever made a decree or endangered the life of his people so much that they warranted it right to kill him."  
  
"Heero meant to kill you then?"  
  
Wufei shook his head, though he knew Duo couldn't see the movement in the complete darkness. "I don't know. But I am quite sure that's exactly how Darrin will interpret it. Before, if a king were ever to survive a Marked One's attack and that survival was discovered he would be cast out. That's why all of the Marked Ones were chased out with the Izardl, they threatened the king's power."  
  
The two boys stumbled over a small area of uneven ground as the passageway began to descend. Wufei grasped Duo's hand tightly and used his other to trail along the wall. He had never been more grateful of the fact that he'd memorized these passages when he was very young, because now they were most likely the only thing that would keep them alive long enough to escape.  
  
Wufei heard Duo gasp slightly behind him. "Duo?"  
  
"It all makes sense now. You told him you'd sent out messengers after your father didn't you?"  
  
"Yes," Wufei murmured darkly. "He was probably the one who murdered them. Either he didn't want them to find my father-"  
  
"Or he didn't want them to find your father's dead body." Duo finished in a harsh voice. "Then he planned all of this!"  
  
"shhh!"  
  
Both boys froze in their steps as they heard voices beyond them, on the other side of the wall. Darrin's voice was very clear through the stone walls, above the sound of muffled guards and armor clicking together.  
  
"Find them! The prince was attacked by a Marked One! Find him and his Shadow and bring them to me at once!"  
  
Wufei's eyes narrowed and he gave a very low growl. Tugging on Duo's arm he urged them both to move faster. There were so close to the wall now. The problem was the passage didn't completely go outside, it would have been unsafe. So once they came to the exit they would have to find a way to cross the castle courtyard and get out of the gates. Or maybe he was wrong… maybe the passage would take him outside the castle. Perhaps the previous kings hadn't filled it in. He could only hope.  
  
The two hurried as fast as they dared. Heero remained completely unconscious as he lay limply over Duo's shoulder, so he made no sound. The two boys were doing a good job of not stumbling in the complete darkness but it was taking a toll on their speed. They had to hurry. Every minute longer they were in the passage was another minute they could be found or caught. And that wasn't even considering the possibility that Darrin and his guards might already know about this passage and may be waiting on the other side for them. Wufei hoped desperately that wasn't the case.  
  
"I smell water."  
  
Wufei paused and sniffed the air, acknowledging that it had gained a musty flavor, the smell of a rainstorm. Their steps slowed as they continued and the smell of fresh but water air assaulted their nostrils. They were near the outside.  
  
Both boys remained silent, knowing their lives depended on them not being heard or found.  
  
Turning around a corner the sounds of dropping water and crashing thunder overhead grew quite clear. In front of them lightning flashed and for a moment the passage was lit up slightly. Both boys froze and held their breaths… but they saw no other signs of life.  
  
Wufei ventured toward the opening first, sticking his head out and looking around. He nearly gave a cry of joy as he found that the passage had in fact led them outside the castle walls. The only problem was that they were several feet from the ground, and the jump didn't look to be hospitable at all. Still, there were no signs of guards or Darrin… only very deep mud and high growing reeds.  
  
He turned back to where Duo was waiting. Touching Duo's hand he led him to the door and motioned that they would have to jump. Duo nodded and took Heero down from his shoulders. He set the silent servant boy on the ground and jumped through the opening first. His feet immediately caught on the mud and he was sent tumbling into the weeds, rolling over and over until he was nearly covered from head to toe.   
  
Duo's violet eyes searched the landscape for any sign of movement. It took him a moment but he figured they were somewhere behind the castle, a good long walk from the city and the main gate. He wasn't sure if that would work to their advantage or not.  
  
Standing up he made his way through the mud and pouring rain back to the opening. He held up his arms and grunted softly as he caught the limp servant boy. Then Wufei jumped out of the opening after him and the two took off away from the castle.  
  
Wufei could scarcely believe they'd made it out with their lives.  
  
Now they only had to worry about surviving long enough to find a place to hide and plan what they were going to do. Not to mention that they would have a whole new set of problems when Heero woke up…   
  
**  
  
The first thing he noticed was the pounding ache in the back of his head. His entire head throbbed from a hard impact he'd sustained earlier, but he didn't seem to be bleeding, least not as far as he could tell. Joined to that pain was the stinging burn of the torn skin on his arm.  
  
Torn skin?  
  
Without moving or showing any sign that he was awake Heero retraced his memories. When had he torn the skin from his shoulder? The pain was like a red-hot coal placed against his skin and the cold air didn't make it any better. He remembered sneaking into the prince's bedroom and asking the question he'd come to learn. He remembered removing his weapon from his shoulder… and he remembered it hitting hard and painfully into the stone wall of the prince's bedroom. That's where his torn skin had come from, from the fact that he hadn't returned the weapon to its rightful place.  
  
Heero turned his attention to his body and what else he could discern of his current situation without moving or opening his eyes. He knew he was still wearing the tunic which had been chosen as his disguise and he could feel a cloth stretched over his mouth. He was gagged. He couldn't be sure but he had little doubt that his legs and arms were tied as well. He suppressed the urge to growl in frustration.  
  
He shouldn't have been caught off guard by Duo. That wasn't how things should have happened! Duo should have stayed in bed from his injuries; the Shadow shouldn't have gotten involved!  
  
He could smell the night air and the sweet strong scent of hay. He knew he was lying on hay, but it wasn't the kind one used to line a dungeon. Not to mention that if he'd been in a dungeon he most likely wouldn't have been bound and gagged.  
  
Where could he be?  
  
A stable?  
  
It took concentration, but eventually he could make out the sounds of horses nearby. Yes, a stable.   
  
He could also hear two people.  
  
One of those people moved and Heero could hear the footsteps approaching. Then something hit him hard in the gut and he couldn't keep in the small cry. He groaned, trying to roll away and protect himself. However he ended up rolling over and letting the hay touch his torn patch of skin. Heero bit his tongue to keep from crying out from the pain.  
  
"Wake up."  
  
The voice was cold and quiet; full of anger and hatred but Heero immediately recognized it. Opening his eyes he stared up in surprise at a very angry looking Duo, partially illuminated by low candle light from behind him.  
  
"Duo," Wufei said almost in a scolding tone. "Don't hurt him."  
  
"Why not?! He nearly tried to kill you! Not to mention that we're now being hunted down because of him, I think I have the right to kick him at least."  
  
Heero blinked in confusion. He understood part of what Duo said, about him trying to kill Wufei, but them now being hunted? What had happened while he was unconscious?  
  
Wufei stood up in the light, his royal clothes covered with a thin layer of mud, as was Duo. The prince knelt down next to the servant boy and narrowed his eyes. "I'm going to take away the gag and I suggest, for all our sakes, you remain silent. If we're found all of us will be killed. All of us." He put quite an emphasis on the word 'all' and Heero nodded slowly, hoping to show he had no intention of calling for help.  
  
The prince reached behind Heero's head and untied the gag, letting the coarse cloth fall away. Heero immediately gulped up what air he could and swallowed a few times, trying to clear his dry throat. But he remained true to his word and didn't say a single word, he simply watched the two boys with careful eyes. He hadn't intended to get caught.  
  
"You had better explain yourself and fast," Duo bit out.  
  
"What happened?" Heero asked in a soft voice. He knew the voice wasn't at all like the one they were used to from a servant. There was no point in him pretending any more so he discarded the act easily. He spoke to them in his normal, cold and dead voice. He wasn't a servant, they weren't his superiors and even though they may have control of the situation currently he wasn't about to treat them like they'd won.  
  
"Why did you try to kill Fei?" Duo shot back.  
  
Wufei raised his hand to silence his friend in a quiet gesture. Duo let out a sigh of frustration and dropped onto the hay next to them, giving a small wince of pain. Heero noted that whatever they'd been through probably had hurt Duo's back, causing a few of the cuts to reopen. He couldn't imagine how bad the damage was though, he'd been unconscious the whole time.  
  
"Why were you in my room?" Wufei asked in a calm voice, still the anger showed. It was just calmer in his eyes. He had obviously been trained on how to deal with those who couldn't be trusted.  
  
"I was sent to find Sorata. Where is he?"  
  
Wufei's eyes widened lightly. From behind him Duo's face turned curious and he glanced at the two.   
  
"I don't know," Wufei replied softly after a moment.  
  
"What happened to him?"  
  
Duo turned away and closed his eyes, as if entertaining a memory. "He disappeared… nearly eight years ago. One night he was there and then when we woke up the next morning… he was no where to be found."  
  
Heero closed his eyes and took a few low breaths to calm himself. Yet inside he was screaming. He had taken this mission knowing what the worst possible outcome was but he had hoped it wouldn't be true. In the end it had been too late.  
  
"Sorata is dead then," he said softly.  
  
Wufei nodded. "Most likely."  
  
Heero just cursed.  
  
**  
  
end of part 4  
  
hm... i think it's safe to say Duo is pissed at Heero, heh  
  
-----Snow Tigra 


	6. part 5

Chapter 5  
  
The prince frowned and laced his fingers together, watching Heero closely as he tried to decide what to do. The Marked One was now sitting up, leaning against a support beam, though he was still tied with his bound limbs in plain sight, just in case. Meanwhile Duo had long sense wandered to a window beyond them, leaning against the wall out of sight and watching outside.  
  
"The rain's died down," Duo said softly after a moment.  
  
"In some ways the weather is lucky, it will make it harder for them to track us."  
  
Duo shrugged and glanced back out the window. "You say that like we have some place for them to track us to. Face it, Fei, we're in deep trouble here."  
  
The prince nodded and sighed softly, dropping his forehead to rest on his hands. He needed to come up with some plan, something… anything… but he couldn't think of anything. He wasn't equipped to deal with situations of this nature. He'd never been taught what to do if the entire castle turned against him thanks to a traitorous advisor who was aiming for the throne. And if he was right about Darrin killing his father and those messengers then there would be no one to stop him from getting what he wanted. Wufei was the last of his father's line. And he had no other relatives that he could think of.  
  
Duo was right.  
  
Heero cleared his throat softly, causing Wufei to look up at the boy. Duo's eyes darted to him too, but the Shadow quickly looked back out the window, his face taking a grim look. It was obvious he was still quite angry.  
  
"This is my fault." Heero said in his now usual dead voice. His face didn't show any sign of sincerity… or deceit. Just a statement, taken however one wanted to.  
  
"You're damn right it is!" Duo hissed back.  
  
Wufei raised his hand to silence his friend. "You have a solution?"  
  
Heero nodded once, a precise movement. Wufei couldn't help but wonder where that innocent looking servant boy disguise had gone. He was quite a good actor if he could drop that personality so easily.  
  
"I could take you back to my people. If you were to be pardoned the problem would be solved."  
  
Duo snorted. "You're forgetting how we chased 'your' people out so brutally. No one cares what a Marked One or Izardl thinks anymore."  
  
Heero's eyes narrowed slightly but he kept himself in check. "It is all I can offer. I was only told to find Sorata. I can not interfere any more until I speak with the leader of my people. For me to act now, for or against you, would endanger my kind."  
  
Duo whirled around, his eyes narrowed dangerously. "How convenient for you," he spat out.  
  
"Duo!"  
  
The Shadow clenched his fist angrily, until his knuckles turned almost completely white. Growling angrily he stomped off to the other side of the stables, out of sight. Wufei sighed softly.  
  
"If we did travel to your… people's home, would they help us?"  
  
"I can not speak for them."  
  
"But you think they would?"  
  
Heero nodded.   
  
Wufei closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead lightly. "Heero… if that is your name, this is important. Can we trust you?"  
  
Heero's expression grew deeply serious and he nodded once, his eyes locking with Wufei's. "I swear on the blood of my ancestors, which marks my body, you can trust me. I will make up for the trouble I have caused."  
  
Wufei nodded. He knew the seriousness of such a vow and he trusted it. But he also acknowledged that, at the moment, they really didn't have much else of a choice.  
  
Slowly he stood up and untied Heero's limbs.  
  
**  
  
Duo shuffled around the stables, kicking up hay before him, watching it fly up and slowly float back down. He did his best to contain his anger but in reality all he really wanted to do was scream.  
  
"Stupid, stupid," he murmured softly, cursing himself.  
  
He'd only known Heero for a week! One lousy week! This shouldn't bother him! Not this much!  
  
Growling angrily he dropped back against a support beam. He didn't understand his anger; all he knew was that he was nearly angry enough to kill. And all he could think about was that moment when he'd stepped into Wufei's room and seen Heero perched over him with that blade.  
  
In that one moment a portion of him had shattered.  
  
It shouldn't have mattered so much. After all, that Heero had only been a servant boy. He was only doing what his master ordered him to do, waiting around. He would have done anything Duo asked him to do. Anything. Why should a person like that matter to him? Why should such a small little friendship that wasn't even really a friendship yet matter so much?  
  
Duo slid down on the support beam and hugged his knees, staring at the horses before him who slept in their stalls, snorting softly.  
  
"But it did matter…" he whispered.  
  
It had mattered. No matter how much that Heero may have been a servant, no matter if he'd just been following orders… to have someone to speak to besides Wufei... To have someone who would actually see him and speak with him and interact with him, it had been like a dream! Nearly all his life, ever since his parent's died, he'd been ignored by everyone. No one cared about Duo. No one saw Duo. No one spoke to Duo.   
  
No one ever knew he existed!  
  
But Heero had-  
  
Duo cut that thought off with an angry shake of his head.   
  
No!  
  
That Heero didn't exist! That Heero was fake! That Heero was simply an act! He wasn't real!  
  
The real Heero was a cold-blooded assassin sent in to demand where one of his 'people' went. The real Heero was part of the reason for the Burnings. The real Heero was responsible for the fire. The real Heero was responsible for the fire that killed his parents! The real Heero didn't care about any thing else but what he was sent to do. The real Heero didn't care about… about…   
  
… him.  
  
Duo angrily wiped at his eyes, feeling them start to burn lightly. He swallowed the tears, forcing them away. No, he wouldn't cry about something this stupid. There was no reason to cry about this. Angrily he wiped at his eyes again, banishing the tears to somewhere deep inside, deep inside where he could deny their very existence.   
  
No.  
  
That Heero wasn't real.  
  
He could live with that. He could control his anger and he could forget about the illusion he'd enjoyed so much.   
  
After all… he was a Shadow.  
  
No one else cared about a Shadow's feelings.  
  
Why should a Marked One be any different?  
  
"Duo?"  
  
Duo looked up to see Wufei standing before him, watching him quietly.  
  
"Yeah?" Duo responded, but only after he was sure his voice wouldn't shake and that his tears were completely gone.  
  
"I've decided we should travel with Heero, back to speak with his people. They may be able to help us stop Darrin."  
  
Duo shrugged. "Or it may just be a long trip for nothing." Standing up he stretched and winced, his back crying out in pain. "Either way it's better then the castle or the dungeon."  
  
Wufei didn't respond and Duo knew his friend was watching him closely. He knew the prince didn't believe what he'd just said. Wufei could easily see when Duo hid his real emotions under a mask; Wufei had always been able to tell.  
  
"Duo-"  
  
"I'm fine." Duo cut the prince off.   
  
Wufei sighed softly. "I think we can trust him. And either way, it's about the only choice I can see at the moment."  
  
"I know that. Just don't expect me to be happy about it. He tried to kill the only friend I've ever had in my life. I'm not going to let that drop lightly Fei, you should know that."  
  
The prince nodded. "I know."  
  
Duo frowned. "And I know you would normally make a comment about my anger. Don't worry, I won't get us caught. But I'm not going to smile and make friends with the guy either."  
  
Wufei nodded once more. "That's all I have the right to ask for."  
  
"So… when do we leave?"  
  
**  
  
The destination was decided upon and the trio began preparations. Once Heero had been untied he made himself quite useful, explaining that the journey would take them a good couple of days if they hurried, and a week at normal pace. The route he spoke of, drawing it in the dirt ground under the hay, was mostly flat, but involved tightly grown trees, river crossings and a few long climbs. Still, it was nothing a horse couldn't handle.  
  
The problem was they had no horse and they had no supplies. Without either of these the journey would be a problem, and they were still ignoring the fact that Darrin's guards were still searching for them. The assumption at the moment was that Darrin had turned his eyes away from the city, probably thinking they would have taken off as quickly as they could. Anyone in the city would recognize them in a second, so they were actually in one of the worst hiding spots possible. It was only luck that had kept them alive so long, considering they were in a stable. The stable must have been for an inn or there would be more people coming and going.  
  
"I'll take care of the supplies." Wufei said, standing with a nod.  
  
Duo cast him a questioning look and Heero merely nodded. Using his hand he completely smoothed out the little map he'd made and recovered the area with hay. The movements were reflex. He knew how to hide his trail. It was something all his people had had to learn in order to stay alive.  
  
Wufei straightened his gold circlet, cleaning most of the mud away and straightened his shirt. He paused for a moment and glanced at Heero's arms, which were still covered with tattoos thickly past the elbows. He noticed the deep red tear where the one blade would have fit in.  
  
"You'll need to hide those or we'll be noticed. No one has tattoos any more."  
  
Heero nodded. Both boys watched in amazement as the marked boy closed his eyes and expelled a slow breath. Then the tattoos on his arms began to move. The metallic patterns flowed across his skin, much like liquid, traveling up his arms and disappearing under his shirt. It was like watching the sunlight move about a room as the day went by, expect faster. The entire process took only a matter of seconds, and when it was done there wasn't a single marking in sight. Heero's arms showed no sign of the tattoos, save for the wound, which hadn't moved. Heero winced and clutched his shoulder, over the wound for a moment.  
  
"Did you leave the blade in the bedroom?" He asked quietly, pushing the pain away from his mind. Ah, but it burned!  
  
Duo nodded. "It's probably still embedded in the wall. It still affects you from this distance?"  
  
"A little," Heero shrugged it off and ignored the pain. He couldn't fix it until he got back; he would just have to learn to live with the burning pain. "It'll stop the farther away we get."  
  
Duo flashed him a concerned look, but the expression disappeared almost instantly, replaced by a narrowed glare. The Shadow still hated him for this entire situation, Heero could tell. But he didn't deserve to be able to fix that. And even if he did, he couldn't fall in love with Duo. He was a Clan Protector; they weren't allowed lives of their own. They protected and served their kind, keeping them safe so that others could live peacefully without fear. Heero had so much more to worry about then a simple Shadow's anger.  
  
Still… he did feel guilty for deceiving him.  
  
"I'll take care of the horses and supplies. You two find the best horse for us to take with." Wufei repeated. It had already been decided they would get one horse and would switch off riding it with supplies. Three horses would have been preferred, but three horses would be harder to hide if they needed to and more horses would also be easier to track. So instead the animal was going to be used to carry supplies. The main disadvantage to this is the journey would take them a week… at the least.  
  
The prince turned toward the entrance from the stable to the inn, but found he didn't need to go far. For at that moment the door opened and an older man stepped in, holding a well-kept but very old blade. Duo and Heero quickly ducked out of sight, but Wufei didn't move. Instead he turned to face the man, straight on.  
  
"Who's in here? You little thieves better not be thinking of…" The man's voice trailed off as he caught sight of the prince. He blinked for a moment, then took another step forward, his face showing his obvious confusion. A second later he realized who exactly he was staring at and he gasped, dropping clumsily to one knee. "Highness?"  
  
Wufei nodded, once. "We require the use of your best horse."  
  
"O-of course," the man stuttered out. "But highness, I need the horse for myself and my family-"  
  
Wufei undid one of the pouches of money he'd attached to his belt and handed the entire bag to the man. It was heavy and both knew it was well over the price for a simple horse. "We also need supplies, enough for quick travel."  
  
"Yes, yes." The man held the bag tightly in his hands. He couldn't believe the amount of money he was now holding! "I have a saddle bag I can fill with food… bread and cheese and some dried meat made for travel. It will take me a few moments to fill."  
  
"Please do so."  
  
The man nodded quickly and stood.  
  
Wufei stepped closer to him and his eyes narrowed just slightly. "This is of the utmost importance. We need the saddle pack prepared straight away, and you must tell no one of this. If anyone inquires about your horse it was stolen away during the night. Use the money wisely as to not draw attention. Men who earn money quickly are suspected of thievery."  
  
The man's eyes widened slightly and he quickly nodded. "I will get you the pack." Turning he clutched the bag close to his body, forgetting his sword, and raced back through the door.  
  
Heero stepped out into sight after he was gone. "You know he will tell the guards when they ask him."  
  
Wufei nodded. "Any man would. My concern now is to get out of this city as soon as possible, with the least amount of trail left. This is the fastest way to solve our problems, and perhaps the wisest as well."  
  
The boy grunted his approval.  
  
Meanwhile Duo walked forward and picked up the man's sword, turning it over carefully in his hands. It wasn't a bad blade considering its age. A little dull perhaps but nothing he couldn't fix. Without much thought he turned and slipped it into his belt, nodding toward Wufei. The prince nodded back, giving Duo permission to keep the blade. He knew his friend would prefer having a weapon at his side, no matter how fast Heero could use his tattoos.  
  
The man returned quickly and gave Wufei a saddle pack filled with food. He also returned with three riding cloaks for the prince to choose from. Wufei merely selected all of them and dismissed the man, thanking him for his services. The man was confused but obeyed and quickly left the stables, eager to spend his money. Wufei, meanwhile, turned and tossed two of the riding cloaks to the others, Duo grabbing the dark black one, as he was very used to and now preferred dark clothing.  
  
Heero fixed the saddlebag on the man's horse and made sure it was ready for travel, then they set out as the sun was rising in the horizon.  
  
Travelling at night would have been prefered but there wasn't much they could do about it. Their first imparitive was to make it out of the city and well into the woods before the sun rose completely and Darrin's men came after them. Still, they had a few things on their side. For one, they had a Marked One with them, who could easily take on a good number of people. That was of course assuming that he would defend them in battle like he said they would…  
  
Duo wasn't bad with a sword either and it seemed that Wufei was the only one left without a weapon. Unfortuanntly they didn't have time to get him one.  
  
The trail they followed in the dim morning light curved away from the city and was soon surrounded on all sides with trees. Heero took the lead of the group, sicne he knew which way the should be heading and he showed the true signs of a hunter. Wufei could see that now that Heero didn't have to act like a timid servant boy his personality had changed completely. His eyes darted back and forth over the path, watchign for any sign of movement or danger. He exibited all the actions of a well trained hunter and assassin, ready for almost anything that could be expected.  
  
While Wufei led the horse Duo brought up the rear, defending Wufei from behind. It was unspoken word through all of this that Wufei had to be protected. Darrin or not Wufei was still prince and therefore he, of all of them, needed to live through this little journey to oppose Darrin when they returned. So Duo guarded him from the rear, watching the trees as they passed and listening as well as he could to the path behind them to see if they were being followed.  
  
However Duo's senses weren't nearly as refined as Heero's and right away he failed to see the small shadow which followed them from the trees. And none of the three noticed the same shadow continue to follow them as the day passed on and another night fell.  
  
** 


	7. part 6

Author's Note: The 'shadowy figure' in this part is not the same one mentioned before. Sorry for the confusion ^_^;;;  
  
Chapter 6   
  
The sun setting low found them on their first night out in the woods. Duo left the camp to find food, reluctantly leaving Wufei with Heero to set up camp from what ever they could find. The Shadow hated to leave the prince alone; but he had to acknowledge the logic since Heero had lived in the woods before and knew what they would need and where to find it. So he dropped into the job of hunting down dinner and making sure they weren't being followed.   
  
Once Duo had set off Heero moved about his work silently. Wufei was left to watch as the Marked One surveyed the small clearing away from the road which they had chosen. Heero quickly made a small circle of rocks and a small fire, which would serve for cooking without creating enough smoke to draw unneeded attention. Wufei leaned against a tree, watching all of this with no small wonder. Living in a castle all his life had made him naive to the ways that other people lived outside of cities. To be able to make a fire without calling a servant… as much as he hated to admit it he knew he couldn't do it.   
  
"Heero."   
  
The Marked One glanced up at the prince through his messy bangs but made no other move to respond.   
  
"What exactly is a Marked One?"   
  
At this the boy paused for a second and glanced up at the prince, momentarily forgetting about the small fire pit he was creating. "Surely you were told about us in your royal lessons." Leaning forward he began striking together two rocks to create sparks.   
  
Wufei frowned. "Yes, but I'm beginning to seriously doubt what I was taught." Sighing he removed the circlet from his head he turned the smooth piece of gold in his hands. It was the mark that he was ruler… and yet it was also the mark of all the thing he'd been taught and would be leading. For some reason it now seemed to be a symbol of lies. Or at least deception. "Would it work best to compare stories since you're not the type to talk often?" Wufei meant it as a simple observation, not an insult. And that was apparently how Heero took it.   
  
He nodded.   
  
"According to my teachers Marked Ones are the ancestors of an ancient magical race called the Izardl. I was taught that you aren't human and that you… practice very inhuman arts. For one thing your strange weapons are made from the blood of others who were killed in savage acts." Wufei paused and attached the circlet to his belt, not feeling the right to wear it any more. After all, he wasn't prince among this group… and if he was, he didn't want to be anymore. On this journey they were equals.   
  
He continued. "I was also told that your entire race is structured like a clan of assassins, working for the highest bidder. That if one of you fails the rest of the clan will hunt them down and kill them, using their blood to make more markings. I was told you don't allow women into your group and in the days before the Burnings, there was always at least one of your kind in the castle. Every king was supposed to have a Marked One hidden in their court so that your kind was always in control."   
  
Wufei stopped and watched the boy before him closely. Throughout his entire small speech the boy had seemed to ignore him, just quietly tending the fire and nursing the flame higher and higher. Wufei hadn't even seen him stiffen at some of the more insulting things he'd said. It was as if the boy didn't care… or had heard it all before.   
  
Heero sat back from the fire, apparently satisfied that it would burn on its own. He crossed his arms and glared at the fire for a moment, then brushed off his hands. It took several moments before he answered, but when he did his voice was strained with an old anger.   
  
"The Izardl are our ancestors, from quite far back. More specifically, we are crossbreed offspring from humans and Izardl. If we were full Izardl, I would have scales across my body and would have been hunted down long ago."   
  
Lifting his arm a single large tattoo slid down into view in the shape of an ornate and very nasty looking throwing star. With ease he took the weapon from his skin and Wufei watched with amazement as the ink pattern turned to a deep red metal in-between the boy's fingers, indeed becoming a sharp, barbed throwing star. Where the blade had been was now a red area that would eventually become a scar if the weapon weren't replaced.  
  
Heero held the weapon up for Wufei to see but didn't face the prince. "Our weapons are made from the blood of our ancestors, yes. It is an act of respect done after the person dies in battle or of natural causes."   
  
Wufei nodded. "Which is why you were so concerned about Sorata. After a person dies their blood becomes sacred, doesn't it?"   
  
Heero nodded, replacing the weapon and making it disappear underneath his clothing once again. "That and there are not many of us left. We protect each other."   
  
Heero stood up and walked toward the horse, opening the pack he inspected some of the contents. He didn't say anything else and Wufei frowned.   
  
"What about the last part?" He asked quietly.   
  
Heero simply shrugged and turned away from the pack, with a small pot to cook food in. The innkeeper had indeed packed them with everything they might need.   
  
"We are not assassins."   
  
He responded simply. And that ended the conversation.   
  
**   
  
Heero frowned at himself, later, as he stood quietly at the edge of their camp. The prince had taken a place next to the fire, watching the flames with his face showing he was in deep thought.   
  
Unwise, Heero chided himself.   
  
True, he did owe the prince, considering he'd put the boy's life in danger, caused him to lose his entire kingdom and nearly gotten them all killed. But that didn't give him the right to reveal the secrets of his people… not that it would make any real difference though.   
  
He'd only actually answered the prince's questions with the simplest answers he could give. He'd left many parts out, things the prince didn't need to know. Like the fact that the blood of his ancestors only became weapons on others with the same blood and magic running through their veins. Normal humans had tried in the past to use Izardl blood to make the same weapons and it only resulted in deeply burned scars, twisted limbs and horrible pain. Something about Heero's ancestry and the ancestry of his people kept them alive and enabled them to use the magic left in the blood, even though it was continually diluted by their human blood with every generation…   
  
None of his kind even spoke of the possibility that one day the magic would become so diluted it would disappear. No one spoke of that horrid day, but all knew that some day it would come.   
  
Heero shook his head and banished the thoughts. It wasn't a problem he could solve and there was no use fretting over the future, especially when you didn't know how close or far away it actually was. Better to worry about the situation at hand. Better to worry about current problems and solve those first.   
  
His one worry though was the one Wufei had brought to his attention.   
  
He didn't know what had happened to Sorata's blood.   
  
It was safe to say that the reason Sorata had been killed was because he'd been discovered by the king or the king's advisor. The problem was that any smart king would have saved the blood from a dead Marked One. Even if pure humans couldn't use it for tattoos it still commanded a high price from those willing to try, not to mention that a vial of Marked Ones' blood was a greatly valued collector's item. Especially among the elite and higher up people in society. He hated that his people's blood was valued so much among outsiders that they would actually consider selling it after a person's death. As if that person were nothing more then an object, their blood no more living then water.  
  
Heero clenched his fists, but otherwise concealed his anger. He now wished he hadn't blown his cover so quickly, he wished he had waited and tried to find out what might have happened to Sorata's blood. Or at least his body… Looking back on the situation now he wondered if it would have been better of him to threaten the life of Darrin, the king's advisor, for the answer he wanted. But there wasn't a way he could change the situation now.   
  
Duo returned moments later; bringing Heero's troubled thoughts to an end. The shadow returned carrying three dead rabbits by their ears; his sword still attached to his belt… unused.   
  
Heero's eyes narrowed slightly as he watched Duo drop the rabbits by the fire and then immediately work on rebraiding his hair. His hair had been braided when he left, quite neatly in fact, yet now it was pulled back in a hasty ponytail, a soft night breeze causing it to sway just slightly. Immediately after dropping the rabbits near the fire, the Shadow pulled the tie from his hair and started to rebraid it. Heero's eyes narrowed even more as he watched the hair fall into place easily… almost as if it knew it was supposed to be in a braid and willingly let itself be smoothed out and twisted together.   
  
Duo tied off the bottom and tossed the braid over his shoulder, then turned and glanced at Heero, who immediately hid his glare.   
  
"I assume you know how to cook these?"   
  
Heero nodded and made one of his tattoos slide down his skin, quickly setting to work using the weapon to skin the animals and prepare them. Still, his mind was focused on Duo. How had he managed to catch these rabbits without using his sword? And why had his hair been down?   
  
Wufei stepped forward and seemed to be thinking the same thing. "How you catch them?" The prince asked.   
  
Duo shrugged. "My father used to track rabbits when he was still around. Guess I still remember most of the stuff he taught me."   
  
Heero's eyes narrowed to a full glare as the prince nodded. The prince may have accepted that answer but Heero didn't. He knew that was a lie. There was no way a young child could remember how to hunt down rabbits from that long ago, and even if he could, tracking them took practice. They were fast, not easy to catch at all. To top it off Duo had only been gone for an hour at the most. Catching a rabbit in that time, much less three, was almost unheard of!  
  
As he set to work skinning the animals he noted another interesting fact. There were red marks around the throats of the rabbits. Had they been strangled to death? He noted that their necks had been snapped but they'd been strangled first. A quick glance told him that Duo had taken no tools with him to make traps that would do such a thing. So how had he caught and killed the rabbits? He was almost positive Duo was lying, but why?   
  
He had to have a reason.   
  
People like Duo didn't lie without a good reason.   
  
Still… Heero had no idea what that reason was. He didn't even have a clue.   
  
**   
  
He watched from far away, hiding among the trees with practiced ease from years of experience. He didn't even have to get close to the group to learn about them. There were three of them, travelling with a single horse, that much he could tell from the tracks they left. They mostly walked in a single file line to hide the numbers in their tracks but he'd seen them leave the innkeeper's stables, so he knew their number. He also knew that they had a thick and heavy saddle pack filled with travelling supplies.   
  
Three people really wasn't much at all, especially considering their size and age. He'd watched them closely as they left the stables, making sure that they were actually a quarry worth following. He knew he couldn't kill them -- wouldn't even really consider it unless his life was threatened -- but he did know that he could really use the supplies in their saddle pack. They were travelers, and considering the three rabbits the one had been carrying on the way back to the camp, they knew how to hunt.   
  
So if they lost their saddle pack they would still be able to survive, at least until the next town. So there really wasn't any harm in him stealing it. No harm at all.   
  
He waited for the cover of night to fall then made his way toward the camp. He could tell they'd decided to take a quick rest, and when he reached the camp he could see the fire had already been stamped out and buried, the telltale signs scattered around to avoid detection. Odd… that meant they were ready to leave quickly if the need arose.   
  
Were they in trouble for something?   
  
Was someone searching for them?   
  
He didn't really care; his mind was only on the saddle pack that would make his life infinitely easier for the next month or so. Judging by its size it certainly had to have a good amount of rationed food, or at least some pots and supplies he could sell for small amounts of money. Either one would benefit him.   
  
Keeping on the edge of the camp, behind the trees, he made his way silently toward the horse. He knew how to take saddle packs from horse without causing them to make much noise; he'd had years of practice stealing from other travelers. And tonight the haul looked to be quite big.   
  
A quick glance told him the three travelers were still sleeping and hadn't moved. They looked about a year or two older then him… all so young to be travelling alone…   
  
He turned his attention back to the horse and began to undo the straps when he heard something move behind him. He immediately froze, a chill moving down his spine. A quick glance over the horse's back told him that now there were only two people sleeping where there had once been three. How had he missed the movement of the other? How fast had that one moved?! There was the sound of metal sliding against metal and an arm suddenly wrapped around his waist, a blade resting coldly against his throat.   
  
His eyes widened and he froze.   
  
Well, he certainly knew where the third one was now.   
  
"Who are you?" A cold voice demanded.   
  
The boy moved quickly, not allowing himself to panic. He snapped his wrist and slammed his elbow into the person behind him without warning. The saddle pack slid off the horse and he used the momentary distraction to grab it and slide out of the other's grasp, diving under and between the horse's legs. Moving as quick as he could he bolted away from the horse, holding the saddle pack close. He could still make it… could still get away… as long as he didn't look back and didn't slow down. Warmth slid down the front of his throat and he knew the blade had nicked his skin, but the cut wasn't deep enough to worry about. And as soon as he sold the items in the pack -- or heck even the pack itself! -- he could easily afford to rest long enough for it to heal.   
  
Something strong clutched around his arm and yanked him backward, causing him to drop the saddle pack to the ground, where it snapped open and the contents spilled. He gave a small cry as the strong hand jerked him backward and held painfully.   
  
"Let go!" He cried out, turning to attack his captor again. But he froze as he finally saw the other boy. Glinting red marks covered his arms from wrist to shoulder, nearly every inch of skin filled with ornate markings in the shapes of various sharp weapons. A sharp blade was clutched in his captor's hand and his eyes were narrowed in a dangerous and deadly glare.   
  
The boy tried to contain his panic but he couldn't.   
  
All he could do was stare at those weapons which covered the other's arms. He knew now that there was no point in running. Those weapons were meant to be thrown, fashioned to fly through the air with deadly ease. If he even got away and took two steps he knew the other would send them flying and that would be the end of him. There was no way to escape the anger of a Marked One.   
  
He really had picked the wrong camp to steal from!   
  
The boy's eyes flew around, looking for something, anything! There had to be some way out of this situation. Some way other than his last resort. Something that could save him. He didn't like to use his trump card unless there was no other way. He needed to get away. There had to be something he could do-   
  
"Let him go, Heero."   
  
The Marked One's eyes narrowed and he yanked the boy forward, twisting his arm painfully behind his back. The boy cried out in pain as he felt his arm scream in protest to the pain. If he moved now he'd break his arm trying to get away. He could no longer see his captor, nor the blade the other held. He couldn't see to get away. But he could see the one who'd yelled, it was another who'd been sleeping. Yet this one had long hair pulled back into a braid and was dressed in very dark clothing. The braided boy's violet eyes were narrowed in anger.   
  
Ah! His arm! Oh but it hurt!   
  
"Let him go!" The long haired one yelled again, this time standing up and stalking toward them.   
  
"He'll run. He'll reveal our route and direction." The voice behind him was deep, angry and set. Oh no! The one with the blades actually planned on killing him! Over a saddle pack? No… no, he corrected himself. Something about revealing their route? He was right! They were being followed!   
  
He knew he should have trusted his instincts! He shouldn't have followed a group of people who looked like they were running from something. It was like cornering a frightened animal. It was stupid! It was fatal! How could he have been so blind?!   
  
"Heero," the braided boy stalked closer. "Let him go now, he won't run."   
  
The boy shook his head. "I won't run, honest!" He stuttered out, but he shut his mouth as the grip on his arm tightened.   
  
"Heero!" The boy growled, almost yelled.   
  
A grunt sounded from behind the boy and he felt the grip loosen. Immediately, seeing his opening, he pulled his arm away and bolted away from the one holding him. Jumping behind the braided boy, for what small protection he could offer, he eyed the Marked One with fear. But his eyes also combed the clearing, ready to make a run if the situation grew any worse.   
  
The Marked One glared at him for a moment longer, then shrugged and walked toward the third boy, who was now sitting up near the fire. "If he leaves he will tell them where we are."   
  
The braided boy frowned. "Then he travels with us, I'm not letting you mess up any one else's life! You got a problem with that?!"   
  
The Marked One just shrugged and sat down, his back to them. It wasn't his problem anymore, and the boy could tell that he was washing his hands of the entire situation.   
  
The braided boy turned back to him, a friendlier look on his face. "Are you all right?"   
  
The boy rubbed his arm, it still hurt and the Marked boy had left bruises on his wrist. Still he nodded, his eyes watching everything in the clearing. He knew he looked like a scared rabbit at the moment. But he couldn't help it… he'd never really been caught before.   
  
The braided boy knelt down to gather up the contents of the saddle pack, but kept his eyes watchful. "If you were hungry you could have asked, we would have shared." He took a loaf of bread from the saddle pack and tore a piece off, holding it out to him.   
  
The boy eyed it carefully, not exactly sure what to do. After a moment of thought he quickly snatched it away and took a quick bite, nearly swallowing it whole.   
  
With a chuckle the braided boy smiled. "I'm called Duo, and you?"   
  
The boy's light blue eyes flickered to the other two, who still seemed to be paying attention. Swallowing the rest of the bread he answered.   
  
"Quatre." 


	8. part 7

Marked for Death  
  
A Note on ages, they are switched and kind of important for the fic.  
Heero and Wufei are 18, Duo is 17 and Quatre is 16.  
  
Chapter 7  
  
The blond boy quickly finished off the bread he'd been given and eyed the other travelers. The one with the long braid, Duo, was the only one who really paid attention to him. Duo simply crouched there, having picked up everything from the saddle pack, and waited, watching him. Meanwhile, the other two went about cleaning up the camp and prepping the horse.  
  
No, check that. Only the Marked One, Heero, did any of that. The third, unnamed boy, with long black hair said nothing. He helped with a little bit of the cleaning up camp but most of the time he just stood there looking frustrated and helpless. Quatre knew immediately that despite the dirty clothes and tangled hair this one wasn't used to travelling. Least not in this fashion.  
  
The third boy was obviously a member of royalty or something like that. His look of helplessness made that perfectly clear, along with his clothing. Despite the fact that it was covered with dust and dirt from travel and sleeping on the ground, Quatre could see the fine workmanship in the seams and even the quality of the fabric. He watched the boy move around and noted a circle of gold attached to his belt, mostly hidden under his travelling cloak.  
  
If Quatre had his choice, this boy would have been the perfect one to steal a saddle bag from, or even that gold circlet. The poor rich kid probably wouldn't even know it was gone.  
  
"You still hungry?" Duo asked.  
  
Quatre shook his head and stood up, glancing around the camp. There was almost no sign that they'd even slept there. None at all. His eyes flickered to the Marked One, who walked over and took the saddle pack from Duo. Their eyes met for a moment and Quatre met his glare with a determined look. The Marked One simply grunted and turned around, attaching the pack to the horse.   
  
"We're all up, we should get moving." It sounded more like an order then a friendly suggestion.  
  
Duo stood up and brushed his dark clothes off. "You're going to have to come with us, we can't leave you here. We can't let anyone know which way we're going."  
  
Quatre frowned at that. Travelling with a Marked One? Were they nuts?! They'd be killed! But then again… him travelling with them meant he would be fed for at least the next few days. And he certainly didn't have anything of value that he was leaving behind – he didn't have anything of value period. So the lesser of two evils…  
  
Quatre nodded. "You going to feed me?" He asked with a cute little smile. Better to act the part of the cute little kid thief then to let them know anything about him. He'd travel with them… trusting them, on the other hand, was a completely different matter.  
  
Duo chuckled. "Sure, kid, we got enough food here for a while. Come on."  
  
Both walked back to the horse and Heero, who was waiting impatiently. Duo nodded to the black haired kid.  
  
"Fei, take the horse."  
  
The black haired boy nodded, a look of gratefulness flashing across his face. With practiced ease he pulled himself up on the back of the horse and they started off down the road.  
  
Heero led the group once again, walking just in front of the horse, his eyes ever watchful. Meanwhile the black haired boy sat atop the horse, holding the reigns lightly. His figure swayed with the walk and Quatre could tell he was tired. Another sign of a noble, he hadn't been able to sleep very well on the hard ground, and yet the other two had.  
  
Quatre frowned for a moment as he walked beside Duo. Was the black haired boy a captive? It might almost work. Considering the way the other two were dressed – not nearly as richly – and the fact that they looked able to survive without the help of servants. Had he stumbled on to someone being kidnapped? No, that scenario just didn't seem right, considering how the Marked One and Duo glared at each other. They were very angry with each other, if they were partners they wouldn't have let a disagreement get so bad.  
  
"Who's chasing you?" Quatre asked without turning to Duo.   
  
The boy walking beside him raised an eyebrow and glanced at him. "What makes you think we're being chased by someone?"  
  
"I'm not stupid," Quatre said. He pointed to the boy on the horse. "He's a noble isn't he? I can tell he's not used to travelling like this. I may be younger then you, but I'm not stupid."  
  
Duo chuckled lightly. But the chuckle was forced and Quatre could hear that it was strained. "The less you know, the safer you are, kid."  
  
Quatre frowned. "Wrong. The more I know the safer I am. You're making me travel with you, I'd at least like to know what we're running from."  
  
"You can tell him, Duo," said the boy from the horse. "He makes a good point."  
  
Duo nodded and sighed softly. Shrugging he spoke without looking at Quatre, but the young thief could still tell he was watching him through his peripheral vision. "You're talking to a Shadow kid, the Prince's Shadow to be exact."  
  
Quatre's eyes widened and he skipped a step, falling slightly behind Duo. Recovering quickly he matched Duo's pace again, just staring at him in wonder. A Shadow? An actual Shadow?   
  
He'd heard about an orphan named Duo from the others on the street, the few times they would actually speak with him. Most of it was just him spying in on conversations and gathering bits of info that sounded useful to him. From what he had heard Duo was one of the many orphans from the Burnings, but he was different. Unlike the others he'd been chosen to live with the prince as a kind of companion slash whipping boy. Everyone envied him for being able to live in the palace, yet no one envied him because of the torture he would supposably have to live with for the rest of his life.  
  
Most townspeople knew what a Shadow was, but not in exact detail. They knew enough to know that it was forbidden to speak with them or even pay any attention to them. It wasn't because you would get punished because you spoke to them, but rather that they would get punished for your carelessness. Some people purposely talked to Shadows because of their contempt for the lucky; others just ignored them, taking it to an extreme and thinking that the poor boy or girl would be punished if they were even looked at.  
  
Up until this point Quatre had never actually seen a Shadow, though he heard that every nobleman in the area had one. He knew they wore dark clothing and many were trained to protect the person they were Shadow to… Still, of all the things he'd heard he never expected a Shadow to be like the boy walking beside him; not this grinning and very friendly boy. Quatre frowned lightly.  
  
"You're not going to get in trouble are you?" He asked softly, eyeing the dark haired boy ahead of them on the horse.  
  
Duo shook his head. "Not from him. The other's from the palace on the other hand…" Duo shrugged. "They're the ones chasing us."  
  
Quatre blinked. "So he's the prince. But why did you leave the palace? Are you stupid? To leave a place were everything is provided for you?"  
  
The Shadow chuckled softly, apparently finding that comment entertaining. "Sometimes the good things just aren't worth the price."  
  
"There was a misunderstanding," the Prince said from his place on the horse. "We're all equals on this journey now, not Shadow, not Prince and not thief."  
  
Quatre's eyes darted to the Marked One who was still leading the group, he'd remained completely silent throughout the entire conversation. Not even an angry grunt, he just led them on silently.  
  
"I can live with that," Quatre responded back.  
  
"Sorry to drag you along, but you understand we can't leave any trail behind."   
  
Quatre smiled at Duo. "Don't worry about it. Besides, the town was getting boring anyway. It was time for me to find something new."  
  
**  
  
The small travelling group moved across the land at a relatively good speed. After that first day when Quatre had joined their group Heero led them off the roads, abandoning the flat and well-traveled ground for cutting between trees and through streams. Both Wufei and Duo noticed right away that they were veering from the original map that Heero had shown them on the stable floor, but still heading in the same general direction. Neither said anything to the Marked One, but instead watched him carefully for any other deviations.  
  
Travelling off the main road made plenty of sense, so they weren't overly suspicious. After all, the Marked One could simply be making sure that another incident that gained them Quatre's company didn't happen again.   
  
Their sleeping patterns were erratic, only a few hours of rest with large amounts of walking in between. They frequently took turns riding the horse, though Heero always led the group. He was the one who slept the least of all of them, forcing all of them to learn to deal with his short sleeping patterns.  
  
Wufei's travelling legs improved significantly as the days wore on. He soon became quite more used to sleeping on the hard ground and walking during most of his waking hours. Whereas he'd usually been the first to ride the horse most days, he now gave it up in favor of walking and getting used to the travel. Most times it was Quatre who rose the horse and occasionally Duo. Quatre the most since his age made his legs slightly shorter and it was a little harder for him to keep up.  
  
The majority of the week of travel passed quickly with no sign of them being followed. Apparently that was time enough for Heero because halfway through the fifth day he let them take a rest at the site of a lake, which they all happy accepted.  
  
Duo immediately shed his clothes and jumped in the water, happy for the feeling of being clean again, while Wufei followed quickly after him, but in a more restrained manner.  
  
Heero ignored them and attended to the horse and their supplies, doing his routine check up, then allowed himself to sit and rest on a large rock. He noticed that Quatre remained there standing and watching him curiously. But only after a few long minutes did he actually acknowledge the blond thief's persistence. He frowned and glanced up at the boy.  
  
"Yes?" He asked in his blank voice.  
  
Quatre jumped in surprise at being noticed and managed to stutter out a response. "I noticed your arm was bandaged and that you haven't touched it for a long while. What happened?"  
  
Heero almost smiled softly in amusement. He found the young thief very interesting, if nothing else then for the mannerisms about him. It was obvious the young blond boy feared him, as most people did when they found out what he was. But what amused Heero was that aside from that fear the blond thief kept trying to talk to him. Heero could easily see the boy trying to gather up his courage to speak with him. What in the world possessed the boy so much that he would make such an effort to become friendly with something he so obviously feared?  
  
"I left one of my weapons back at the palace," he said simply. The fact that it left him vulnerable didn't need to be said, that much was obvious every time a branch brushed up against the wound or he used his arm too much. He knew everyone could tell how much pain he was receiving from the open wound.  
  
Quatre's eyes darted to his feet and stayed there for a moment as he gathered up his courage. Then he took a deep breath. "I… ummm… I know some things about medicine. Do you want me to look at it? I noticed you wincing the other day from it, I might be able to help."  
  
Heero watched the boy quietly for a moment, not sure what to think. Before he'd just been amused by Quatre's attempts to speak to him, but now he was just dumbfounded. What in the world was it that made this boy so insistent on speaking with him? Why did this boy feel a need, which he obviously did, to befriend him? Or at least to conquer his fear. Heero's eyes narrowed just slightly in suspicion, but he nodded.   
  
The blond boy swallowed and stepped forward, reaching timidly for Heero's arm. He touched the wrap of cloth Heero had placed there after the first day and his hand shook, almost like it had been burnt. Heero watched in confusion as the boy took another deep breath and steeling himself, banishing his fear.  
  
Quatre unwrapped the small bindings of cloth wrapped around the wound and pulled it away, causing Heero to let out a sharp and low hiss of pain. The wound had begun to slightly heal over, deciding that the not-so-clean cloth was part of the skin. It had actually start scabbing and sticking to the cloth. As Quatre took away the cloth new blood welled over the surface as some of the newly formed skin tore. Heero looked away and tried to ignore the pain, but he was forced to bite his lip.  
  
He needed to get back to his people, where this could be fixed easily.  
  
"This doesn't look good," Quatre murmured softly. It seemed he'd banished his fear, at least momentarily, in favor of tending to Heero's wound. "Stay here," he said lightly. Taking the cloths he ran to the lake and washed them out in the water, pausing to rub them over the rocks in a washing motion, before dropping them back in the water.  
  
Heero took the time to glance at his wound and frowned even more. He had wrapped it with a less then clean cloth, but it had been the cleanest thing he could find at the time. It no longer looked like a simple scrape of the skin, now the area was dark red with blood, speckled with white. He quickly looked away, not enjoying the sight at all. Without protest he obeyed Quatre's soft order and waited for the blond boy to come back.  
  
Quatre did return moments later and the cold water on his wound stung, causing him to grip the side of the boulder tightly. Still he made no sound as the boy cleaned the wound with rough and unpracticed motions. As much as it may have hurt, Heero banished the pain, ignoring it as best he could. Instead he focused on the strange boy treating him. Why in the world was Quatre going to such lengths?  
  
Also, it was obvious that the boy had done this before. Judging from his profession of choice, or necessity, he'd probably had to clean his own wounds throughout life. Heero noticed, for the first time, that the boy was actually pretty well off for a thief. He wasn't overly thin and looked to be rather healthy. Not to mention he knew a bit of the healing arts, which only added to Heero's confusion. Thieves didn't take the time to learn how to heal people.  
  
He closed his eyes as Quatre was almost finished and just concentrated on the wound. It did feel better after being cleaned. He waited for the boy the start covering it with cloth again when he felt something hot flow over the wound. Immediately Heero's eyes snapped open and he grabbed Quatre's hand, startling the boy.  
  
"It was just… an herb… something I found. It's supposed to help…" The boy stuttered out, his eyes wide and full of fear. Heero noted that he was telling the truth, and that a small plant was crushed in his hand. Reluctantly he let go of the blonde's wrist and nodded.   
  
Quickly Quatre bound the wound and retreated, putting as much space between him and the Marked One as he could. Heero watched him retreat with a blank look.  
  
There was something else he'd noticed aside from the herb. What he had noticed was that the boy's finger was bleeding, as if it had been cut or the skin had been torn.  
  
But then again, maybe some of his own blood had just gotten on the boy's finger.  
  
Still… it was odd. And Heero made a note to remember it for later pondering.  
  
**  
  
Duo sat on the shore, running his hands over his braid. Bit by bit his was squeezing the water out, not bothering to untangle the long locks, but nearly treat them like fabric where he could push most of the water out. He had long ago stopped swimming, reserving himself to sit on the shore and let the setting sun dry off his body. His dark top lay on the ground next to him, thoroughly washed, while he wore his trousers, his bare feet and toes wiggling.  
  
He glanced up as Quatre walked toward him and sat down next to his shirt.  
  
For a while the two just sat there and no one talked. They just sat there, Duo getting the rest of the water out of his hair and keeping a spare eye on Wufei, who was still bathing, while Quatre watched the setting sun.  
  
"What happened between you two?" Quatre asked quietly.  
  
Duo frowned tossed his braid over his shoulder. "You mean me and Fei?"  
  
The blond shook his head. "No, you and Heero."  
  
Duo's eyes immediately narrowed and he frowned, choosing to glare at the water. The anger filled him in those words, surrounded by unwelcome images. He wasn't stupid, he knew who Quatre was asking about the moment the question popped up, but he could pretend not to care. He sighed softly, trying to calm his anger.  
  
"He tried to kill Fei," he said, forcing a shrug. And I don't want to talk about it, he added silently to himself.   
  
Quatre nodded and Duo cursed himself. He should have known the little blond wouldn't accept such a passive answer. Just like he'd demanded to know who they were running from before; this kid had a knack for getting information he wanted. Duo smiled softly to himself as he wondered whether he would have turned out the same way if he'd grown up on the streets.  
  
"He tried to kill the only person I've ever been able to talk to in my life. I mean, I know I've been whipped and beaten because of his mistakes, but that wasn't Fei's fault. Not his fault that his father decided to raise him this way. Fei's the only friend I've got, Shadow or not, and when someone threatens to kill him… well I don't take it lightly."  
  
Quatre laid himself out across the grass, placing his hands under his head as he looked up at the sky. "But you don't hate him. Heero, I mean."  
  
Duo blinked. "Huh? What are you talking about? Yes I do! He tried to kill Fei-"  
  
Quatre smiled softly and shook his head. "No you don't, you sound like me."  
  
Duo didn't respond to that one, merely turned and completely looked at Quatre, watching the younger thief with a questioning look.   
  
"My mother was killed in the Burnings, she was one of the unlucky ones caught in the fire and didn't have time to get out. I was only four years old when she died; I didn't know how to live on my own. I wanted to hate the town for killing her. I wanted to hate the Izardl and the Marked Ones for causing the fire. After all, the fire was to chase them out, and she was just an innocent caught in the blaze. I wanted to hate them all, so much, for destroying everything I could have had."  
  
He paused, his hand clenching together in old anger. Yet it was a harmless gesture and even Duo could tell it wasn't meant. Merely a reflexive action. Quatre sighed and unclenched his fist, holding it over his face, against the darkening sky.  
  
"I wanted to hate them all. I should hate them all… but I can't. I tried, I tried for so long to hate them for what happened." He let out a small laugh and dropped his hand, returning to just watching the sky. "But it wasn't their fault. It wasn't their fault, it was just something that happened. And my mother and I were only a few of the unlucky ones caught in the middle."  
  
Duo frowned and glanced away, trying to ignore Quatre's words. The kid's logic made perfect sense, so much sense. But the creepy thing was that Quatre's words echoed his own from every night. He wanted to hate Heero, yet at the same time he understood that Heero hadn't really meant to kill Wufei, only to find out where Sorata was. But still the scene he'd stepped in on…  
  
He wanted to hate Heero so much. For everything that happened, everything that was his fault. Heero was the cause of all of this!  
  
Duo sighed, blowing his bangs away from his face in frustration.  
  
Quatre rolled over on the grass and looked up at him. "You don't hate him, do you?"  
  
Duo just sighed and looked away. "I… I just don't know."  
  
end of part 7 


	9. part 8

Chapter 8  
  
The prince attempted to stifle a yawn as he walked beside the horse, Quatre sitting above him looking around. How long had they been travelling now, the prince wondered. He'd lost track of the days a while ago, but wasn't really willing to ask the others. After all, what was the point? His knowing the day wouldn't make the journey go any faster.  
  
It would probably make it seem longer to him.  
  
He sighed, still walking. When he was young and taking part in his lessons he'd always thought that travelling would be some great adventure. He envied the knights and guards in his father's employ who were sent from kingdom to kingdom with messages and weapons. How grand it would be to travel across the countryside on horseback, seeing new sights and new people.  
  
He didn't have any desire to go off to war, like most of the warriors. Rather, perhaps, to be a messenger. Yes, to just once travel without the constant following of servants and waiting men. Perhaps he would even take Duo with him on a small adventure out into the unknown…  
  
Well now he was travelling, and he was incredibly disappointed. True, he'd seen many sights over the past few days that he never even could have dreamed of, but those small joys and wonders were tempered by his own realizations.   
  
With each day that they traveled and each night they slept he became increasingly more aware of just how helpless he actually was. The first night it was simply wonder at how Heero could make a fire with his bare hands and the items around him. And how Duo could manage to hunt down a delicious, yet rough, dinner.  
  
However, after that first night, things became even more clear. He had trouble sleeping on the ground, tossing and turning at night, only to wake up with a sore back and aching limbs. That problem he'd dealt with, or at least gotten used to. But eighteen years of sleeping in a palace bed wasn't so easily reversed. Not to mention that his stomach, that first night, nearly rejected the tough and overly cooked food. He hadn't said anything to the others and the pain went away soon enough. Then there was the constant walking with little rest, the constant throbbing pain in his body whenever he stopped moving…   
  
He sighed. It didn't take long for him to realize that without a palace and a host of servants to order around he really was nothing. He knew a little about horses, enough to ride them for a few hours, but other than that all his princely knowledge was useless out here in the wilds. Heero lived out here, or appeared to. Duo could get along fine because, to a point, he'd always been forced to fend for himself in the palace. And Quatre was one of the best allies they could have, considering he'd managed to pretty much live on his own since he was four or five.   
  
Wufei was the lead weight in the group, the last wheel that was cracked and pointless, and should have been thrown away if it weren't for the fact that the carriage would fall over. He'd had so many great ideas about helping those less fortunate then himself, but now he realized that he really couldn't do anything for them. After all, about all he could do was lower the taxes, and like that would really make a difference in any one's life. He wondered how many in the towns were actually better of then he was. Most likely a fair amount and that didn't help his mood.  
  
His shoulders had been in a permanent slump for most of the journey as he wallowed in his own silent self-pity. He was the reason all this had happened, not Heero. The others should just leave him alone to deal with Darrin and his father on his own. He was only holding them back from leading normal and happy lives. Still, he had enough royal pride to not make mention of any of this.  
  
He refused to let them see how miserable he felt. If Duo, who'd been raised in the palace right along side him, could make it through this journey so could he! And he would force himself to make it. He refused to be as helpless as he felt. He did his best to watch Heero's movements, learning what he could about the world they traveled through.   
  
Still, in truth, he ached for civilization again.  
  
In front of him, Heero paused and tilted his head back. Dark blue eyes scanned the trees around them as the entire group stood still, waiting. Duo stepped up beside the prince and glanced around as well, but after a moment he shrugged, apparently finding nothing.  
  
"We made better time then I thought," Heero murmured in front of them.  
  
"What?" Quatre asked, leaning forward.  
  
"Don't move." Heero snapped out and whole group froze. Was it just Wufei's imagination or did he hear movement in the trees around them? Had Darrin's men followed them this far without being noticed? Was it a group of bandits that the servants gossiped so much about?   
  
Wufei quickly silenced his rising panic. Panic wouldn't do him any good.  
  
"Heero, you're kidding right?" Duo took a step forward and Heero immediately whirled around, glaring at him. Something flew through the air, zipping past Duo's neck only a hair away from missing. It landed hard in a tree somewhere behind him, but no one turned to look where it went. They all listened to Heero's warning now.  
  
"You missed," said a distinctly feminine voice from above them. Wufei scanned the branches but he couldn't see anyone, merely mixes of green leaves, brown branches and dark shadows. Wufei realized with a chill that any number of people could be hiding around them.  
  
"No I didn't," Another responded with a light giggle. "Did you see the look on his face? That's what I was aiming for!"  
  
Heero took a cautious step forward and the giggling and voices stopped.  
  
"Don't you learn?" Scolded the first voice.  
  
"Sisters, halt!" He spoke loudly, his tone clear and ordering.  
  
The air around them seemed to grow thick with tension as a wind swept around them, rustling some of the leaves. Something hard and metallic flashed above them, but then it was gone, giving no clue to where the two speakers were.  
  
"Show yourself… brother." The last word slipped out with a genuine note of distrust. Now all eyes were on Heero and Wufei had to remind himself to breathe from the tension.  
  
Without a word Heero raised his arms for all to see. Closing his eyes he concentrated and they all watched as his tattoos flowed over his skin like pouring water. Nearly hundreds of them, all in different shapes and sizes flowed over his arms for all to see. All of them, despite the variety though, were shaped like little hooks, blades and throwing weapons, the ideal weapons of a trained assassin. From where Wufei stood he could just slightly see one move up and slide under the Marked One's right eye. A symbol of something? It was the only mark that didn't look anything like a weapon, so it had to be some sort of mark of rank. It looked more like a letter or a character from some foreign language.  
  
Something metallic flew out of the leaves ahead of them, right at Heero. The Marked One moved his hand, without flinching, and caught the sharp glinting weapon with practiced ease. In that single movement the tension seemed to fade away and two figures dropped down out of the trees to stand in front of them. As they landed Heero threw the weapon back and the first caught it, replacing it back on her arm, where it melded into her skin.  
  
The first thing that Wufei noticed, to his surprise, was that both were most definitely trained warriors and both were most definitely female. Not to mention they also appeared to be sisters, due to the similar shades of red hair. Their bodies were also covered with tattoos, nearly head to toe, unlike Heero's which just covered his arms.  
  
The first of the two to land had her shoulder length red hair pulled into two ponytails which brushed against her back. Her skin, like the other girl, was covered nearly all over with a variety of tattoos. The designs differed from Heero's, tending to favor throwing stars and other similar shapes. Wufei noticed immediately the long tattoo which curved up the girl's arm, apparently in the shape of a jagged or bladed whip? Green eyes watched them from a non-tattooed face. Unlike Heero and her sister there wasn't a single tattoo on her face.  
  
The second girl, on the other hand, had a very distinct tattoo under her left eye in the shape of a flower. A decoration of some kind? Or was it, again, another mark of rank? She resembled her sister with hair being almost the exact same shade, yet her eyes were a deep blue. Tattoos resembling lightning bolts and jagged curved blades covered her body. Both girls wore little clothing, compared to the travelers. It wasn't short enough to be scandalous, but still a fair amount of skin was showing. Wufei suspected, though, that it was for easy access to the weapons that covered their skin.  
  
The second girl landed beside her sister with a smile and immediately jumped forward, nearly tackling Heero. She wrapped her arms around him and giggled. "Heero! Great to see you back!"  
  
"Annah," Heero said, his own version of a small greeting. Still being held and hugged he nodded to the other girl and spoke what Wufei took to be her name as well. "Brei." Heero quickly retreated from Annah's hold, gently but insistently pushing her off. Still Wufei could see the hint of a smile on the boy's lips. It was obvious the two knew each other, and were close friends. Either that or this girl clamped hard onto everyone she recognized when she saw them.  
  
Reluctantly the second marked girl sighed and stepped back. Her dark blue eyes finally flickered to the rest of the travelers, stopping to meet Wufei's eyes. He stared right back, watching her closely. The starring contest lasted for a few seconds then a broad smile crossed her face and she tilted her head ever so slightly to the side.  
  
"Where's Sorata?" Annah asked.  
  
Heero shook his head, apparently not willing to speak with them on that matter yet.  
  
"Friends of yours?" Brei asked, stepping forward.   
  
Wufei kept his mouth shut, feeling it wise to let Heero do the talking here. After all these were his people and he knew how to handle them, what was custom and what was not. Thankfully Duo and Quatre seemed to have the same idea, because they also kept their mouths shut.  
  
"We've come to speak with Trowa."  
  
Brei smirked. "They'll need to be blindfolded."  
  
"What?!" Duo blurted out.  
  
Annah walked over to the Prince and his Shadow, a mischievous grin crossing her face. "Why it's common practice, we can't let you know where we live now can we?"  
  
"You must be kidding," the braided boy protested weakly. But he relented as Heero walked over to the saddlebag and pulled out a spare cloth that had once resembled a shirt. Working quickly and silently he cut it into strips and handed two of them to the girls. Heero walked over and tied his around Quatre's eyes, who made no move to stop him.  
  
"I can trust you guys right? I mean, you're not going to do anything strange while my eyes are closed?" Duo's protests were pretty weak and he didn't struggle as Brei smirked and tied hers around his eyes.   
  
"If we do anything you just won't be able to see it, that's all." With those words she patted Duo lightly on the cheek, causing him to flinch, she laughed in response.  
  
Wufei would have watched the scene more but at that moment Annah slipped the last of the cloths around his own eyes, dropping his world into darkness. Reaching out he felt around in the air, until some unknown hand helped him go in the right direction and touch the side of the horse.  
  
"Don't worry, the ground is pretty flat, you shouldn't trip. There aren't any huge roots." Said Brei's voice and suddenly they were moving. Wufei kept his hand on the side of the horse and did his best not to stumble or catch his feet on anything.  
  
The prince found their words to be true; the ground was quite flat and very easy to walk on. Being that it was a forest there were still a good amount of plants and vines sticking up but not enough to make him fall flat on his face, which he was thankful for. After all, it just occurred to him, he was a prince entering foreign territory. He scolded himself for not making sure he was more presentable before they continued on. Certain etiquette still had to be followed even if one was currently running from his own kingdom.  
  
A prince dressed in rags and covered in dirt and mud was less likely to be offered asylum. But then again, he might be in a better position to convey the seriousness of his situation to whoever the leader of the Marked Ones was. He wished he was better prepared. It would help so much if he knew what to expect when they took the blindfolds off, but he knew absolutely nothing. He felt like a child lost in the dark tunnels of the castle, not sure if he would come out in the kitchen, dungeon or master bedroom.  
  
In contrast to their previous travels as of yet this one was comparatively short. They never walked in a straight line, always twisting and turning in what seemed to be a spiral of directions, obviously meant to disorient the blindfolded travelers. And it was doing a good job, at least on Wufei's part. It didn't take long for him to completely lose track of what direction they were travelling in and he just walked blindly, clutching on to the end of the saddle pack. He could smell the forest around him and hear the random creatures, but otherwise there was no sound of their leaders.  
  
Were they still being led around or was the horse simply walking on its own now?  
  
And suddenly they stopped, nearly causing Wufei to trip over his own feet at the sudden halt of movement. Righting himself he waited patiently for the blindfold to be taken away. He knew better then to try and remove it himself.  
  
"Oi, remind me to not-" Duo's words died on his lips and Wufei frowned, wanting to see what it was that had silenced his friend so quickly. Duo was rarely speechless so it had to be something important. Wufei just hoped it wasn't a blade being pressed to his Shadow's neck.  
  
He heard Quatre gasp from above him, where he sat on the horse, and then his own blindfold was removed and Wufei starred around him with wide eyes at the amazing scene.  
  
At first glance there seemed to be nothing important. They seemed to merely be standing in the middle of a forest, surrounded by high trees and thick bushes. Yet, upon closer inspection, Wufei realized that those weren't bushes. They were houses! In fact, as he looked closer, he found he was in fact surrounded by many sized structures made completely of wood and leaves and branches from the area around them. The effect, thanks to the beautiful craftsmanship, left them in a world of nearly perfect camouflage. Wufei wondered if a passing army would have even noticed this place had they walked by, for the only thing that really gave the buildings away were the people who moved from place to place.  
  
The people themselves, who Wufei assumed were Marked Ones, moved about their normal lives, not really heeding their less then clean guests. Like Annah and Brei most of the men, women and children were dressed in a very small amount of clothing, showing off their slender bodies and artistic tattoo designs. A wide variety of hair and eye color ranged through the group, showing that this small tribe seemed to be built from people around the continent. The stylistic designs of tattoos even seemed to differ between the people, with different curves and thickness, the trademark of many different artists.  
  
Wufei couldn't help but stare. He'd heard about the Marked Ones but he'd never imagined there would be so many in one place. He'd also never expected to see them against the backdrop of marveling camouflage. Men, women, children and young adults moved from place to place, doing their own things.   
  
Oddly, Wufei noticed that there were actually a good amount more females then men. And there weren't that many old people, most that he could see were quite young and quite healthy looking.  
  
It took a moment for him to realize but Wufei also noticed that this wasn't a full tribe. This wasn't what a group of people in a town or a small tribe should look like. There should be a relatively equal number of young and old working side by side. This wasn't a tribe. This was a band of refugees trying to make a living in hiding.  
  
"This way," Brei beckoned to them. "I'll take you to Trowa."  
  
The trio of travelers followed their three Marked hosts. Wufei did his best not to stare at the people around him, but he couldn't help it. All he could do was watch as they walked toward what appeared to be a large dome like structure made of a mixture of branches and twisting vines. Vines were curved over a dark entrance, showing that these people did not use fire to light any of their homes, which made perfect sense. Wufei couldn't help fidget a bit as they neared the entrance. He was not at all prepared to meet whoever this Trowa was.  
  
But he was determined to make the best of it, despite his harried appearance. He was a prince after all and he could still do the part even if he didn't look it. Smoothing out his hair he took the gold circlet and replaces it on his head. Taking a deep breath he followed the others into the wooden structure. 


	10. part 9

Chapter 9  
  
Duo blinked, trying to adjust his eyes as they stepped into the darkness. Wearing a blindfold for a short trip and then being exposed to noon light and then being brought into a dark room didn't help his eyesight in the least. It took a moment before he was able to distinguish the blur of shapes around him, and found they'd stepped into what appeared to be a receiving room? He was shocked that despite appearances of being a group of people living in the forest this structure was still built in the same fashion as a palace, albeit quite smaller.  
  
From the shadows he was able to see that they were in a small rectangular room, with a door on one side. This door led to a dimly lit room which he couldn't see into. A tall person blocked his view.  
  
Like the others she was tattooed from head to toe, but her designs resembled more of Heero's, obviously weapons made for short and quick kills. Designs resembling hooks twisted around her body while she watched them with narrowed gray-brown eyes. Like Heero she had the exact same letter marking under her eye. Her deep black hair seemed to almost fade into the background, matching the room's darkness.  
  
She frowned at the entire group for a moment, but her expression lightened considerably when she spotted one of the two girls who'd led them in, Brei.  
  
"They're clear Yuki, Heero wants to take them in to speak with Trowa." Brei said with a smile.  
  
Yuki nodded and stepped away from the door, allowing entrance and the group was moving again. Duo noticed that Annah left them at the door, waving happily and making some comment about lovebirds… Lovebirds? He glanced in surprise to the female who led them into the room and Brei, oddly he wasn't surprised to see them just slightly holding hands.  
  
The next room, lit better then the first, reminded Duo of a garden, let grow on its own accord. Here the ceiling and walls weren't nearly as tightly woven and sunlight was allowed to seep in through expertly placed holes and cracks. Vines twined around most of the structure, covered with sweet smelling and dark shaded flowers. Rays of sunlight dotted the room in a scene that also seemed to remind Duo of a church, or some fancy religious structure.   
  
The room was completely empty save for a set of two trees, which had naturally curled around each other to create a very comfortable looking chair or throne. And currently that throne was in use by a young man, looking to be only a few years older then Duo himself.  
  
In contrast to all the other Marked Ones he'd seen so far, this one seemed to have no weapons tattooed on his body at all. Instead an ornate series of vines curved all over his body with small leaves and tiny buds. The boy's head was tilted down and a good half of his face was covered by his auburn brown bangs. Despite all other appearances of being some form of royalty his clothing didn't fit, for it was the most simplistic that Duo had seen so far. It appeared that the boy only wore a dark set of shorts and an extremely oversized shirt which managed to hang only on one shoulder.  
  
As they stepped into the room Duo froze and watched the tattoos on the boy's body move. Rather than looking up like a normal person one of the buds on his bare shoulder began to bloom and the other vines moved out of the way to allow room for the new growth. Duo watched in a kind of creeped-out amazement as the bud bloomed into an ornate design of an eye. The eye blinked one and looked over the group for a moment, then it closed and the bud closed, the strange design disappearing.  
  
"Welcome back, Heero." The seated boy said softly without looking up.   
  
Duo shivered and just stared. Had he actually been able to see out of that design of an eye?  
  
Heero stepped forward and nodded to him, in a very friendly gesture. Duo blinked and just watched, confused at what he was actually supposed to do. Was this guy royalty of some kind? Should he bow? Or should he just assume that once again he was a Shadow and no one would pay any attention to him?   
  
The boy lifted his head and met Heero's eyes, revealing his own to be a bright green, almost as lively as the plants which filled the room. He watched Heero for a moment then scanned over the group in question. Finally he looked back to Heero and a slight frown crossed his face.   
  
"Sorata is dead," Heero said, in a softer tone.  
  
Duo noticed Yuki off to the side had taken up a spot close to Trowa and was watching them very closely - obviously a protector or bodyguard of some kind. She stiffened at that remark. Almost in immediate response the other stepped froward and clasped their hands together in a comforting gesture. Yuki seemed to relax, just slightly. "Dead?" She whispered.  
  
Heero said nothing more and instead Wufei seemed to take his cue. He took a single step forward, showing that he wished to speak. Trowa nodded to him, giving him permission. Duo immediately recognized that this, at least for Wufei, had turned into a royal proceeding. And the unspoken rule was for him to be silent. He just hoped it wouldn't drag on like most official things did.  
  
"I knew him for the time he was at my father's castle. However, Sorata disappeared nearly eight years ago and we haven't seen him since."  
  
Trowa frowned and shifted in his throne, turning to completely face Wufei. "Meaning that the king or one of his men discovered Sorata. However, this news alone would not warrant you visiting us, highness."  
  
Duo blinked and realized that yes; Wufei had replaced his gold circlet on his head. It seemed strange to him that the leader of the Marked Ones would called Wufei by his title, but then again this entire day was strange, and this shouldn't have seemed out of the ordinary. Duo watched Trowa's eyes flicker to Heero, asking silently for an answer to his question. Why had Heero risked everything to bring these people here?  
  
"The reason for that, is merely a misunderstanding. Heero's presence in the castle was noticed and it was assumed that he had been sent to kill me for some act. My absent father's advisor took the opportunity to chase us out of the castle and try to place himself on the throne. I had thought if I were to get a pardon from your kind, or the leader of your kind to help me, we could fix this problem." Duo noted that Wufei made no mention of exactly how the misunderstanding had taken place, but then it didn't really need to be said.  
  
Trowa nodded, his chin resting on his hand in a thoughtful manner. "And the other two?"  
  
Wufei stepped toward Duo. "He is my Shadow."  
  
Once again the leader nodded, apparently accepting that explanation. He glanced toward Quatre in question. "And you?"  
  
Quatre frowned. "I made the mistake of trying to steal a saddlebag…" he stumbled over his words and his face was red with embarrassment. However, something about what Quatre said managed to lighten the mood in the room and Trowa let out a chuckle. The chuckle was hard, but not because it was forced. Duo recognized it as the sound of someone who was not very often amused and didn't get the chance to laugh or even smile much in his life. In seconds the tension in the room was gone and the leader of the Marked Ones was standing up.  
  
Trowa gave a small bow toward Wufei. "We apologize for creating such a stir in your kingdom and will do our best to fix our mistake. In the meantime, will you join us as our guests? No doubt you would prefer a few days of leisure before returning to tackle the problem of your traitorous advisor."  
  
Wufei flashed him and bright smile of gratefulness and nodded. "That would be most appreciated…" The prince paused and looked a little lost for a moment. "Do you… have a title?"  
  
This caused another rare smile to cross Trowa's face. "No. I am simply Trowa."  
  
"That would be most appreciated, Trowa." Wufei corrected himself.  
  
Trowa stepped forward and addressed the entire group. "I must, however, inform you that we are all equals here. There are no Shadows, Princes or Thieves."  
  
"That's a relief!" Duo said with an exaggerated sigh and Quatre and Wufei responded with soft chuckles of their own.  
  
**  
  
Despite the initial atmosphere of not being accepted into the society, or of possible danger to their lives, the travelers now found out they were relatively free to do as they wished. The amount of trust placed in them was almost unbelievable, since no guards were assigned to them or anything. Instead they were allowed to walk around freely, but warned to not leave the outlines of the tribal area, simply for safety's sake. Had anyone else given them such freedom they might have been called stupid or just careless. But, then, Duo reflected, this wasn't just a normal society. He suspected this much freedom was granted because of how much confidence the Marked Ones actually had in their abilities. Someone would have to be stupid to think they would be allowed to even set foot outside the camp and tell the location. They'd be dead long before they reached the nearest town, easily.  
  
Still, despite this, Duo and his two travelling companions felt quite at ease. He found the Marked Ones to be quite friendly and for the first time in his life he found himself surrounded by people of all ages and genders who were willing to speak with him, almost eager to at that. No one shied away from his dark clothing and no one cared if he was the prince's Shadow or the prince himself. Trowa had spoken correctly and Duo found that in this small village he was simply Duo, nothing more nothing less.  
  
He could definitely get used to this!  
  
The first order of business was the get the visitors cleaned and fresh sets of clothing so they didn't look like homeless people left on the streets. These problems were solved with the help of a nearby lake and clothing provided by other people in the village. Still, even though he was given the choice of wearing whatever he wanted, Duo chose dark clothing that served to conceal and cover most of the scars on his back. In the end he chose a dark brown tunic that reached about mid-thigh and a set of loose deep gray pants where were cut off at the knees.   
  
He had to admit the outfit looked kind of strange on him but it was comfortable. And he was used to covering his scars. He didn't want people staring at them, or worse, asking about them. Better to cover them up and just act like they weren't actually there.  
  
The baggy and small amount of clothing seemed to bother Wufei to no end though, and Duo couldn't help but smirk as he watched the prince tug at his new clothing self-consciously. The style of clothing in the castle was to cover most parts of one's body, with clothes that fit, not ones that were overly baggy. Still the baggy pants and loose blue sleeveless top suited the prince. Least that's what Duo thought.  
  
Quatre seemed to be the most at ease, out of the three of them, with his new clothing. He chose a light blue top that resembled a laced up vest, accompanying it with a pair of nearly perfectly fitting shorts that reached his knees. The effect was almost perfect that he would have been able to fit in amongst the Marked Ones without a second thought if it weren't for the lack of markings crossing his skin. Also, unlike Duo, he had pale burn scars on his legs, but he seemed to pay them no heed, taking no effort to hide them from sight.  
  
The scars were undeniable evidence to the fire which had orphaned both Duo and Quatre. The only difference was that Quatre had been scared from the incident directly.  
  
After receiving their clean clothes the three split up to look around the village and speak with the various people. Duo reluctantly left Wufei to be on his own and speak with Trowa about things only leaders would be interested in. Contenting himself to just wander, he made his way aimlessly about the village, stopping to look at anything of interest to him. This, of course, meant that he stopped nearly every few steps to watch people going about their business. This place was so different from the palace and town he'd grown up in. So very different…  
  
As he walked the bush-looking houses around him seemed to widen and he soon found himself facing a clearing surrounded by houses, and a small group of people. These people created a loose circle around two young children who stood in the center. Duo blinked and stepped forward. The circle looked like a small training circle, like the ones where the prince learned how to use his sword back in the palace. And the ones where he'd stood off to the side mimicking their movements since no one would teach him.  
  
The two kids were quite young, maybe ten years at the most. One was a girl with soft blond hair pulled back into very small braids, while the other was a boy whose light brown hair and gray eyes gave him an older and wiser look. Both had a fair amount of tattoos on their skin, even though they were so young. Duo also noticed that both had a symbol like a letter under their right eye, just as Yuki and Heero had.  
  
They bowed to each other and then stepped back, each reaching for their closest tattoo weapon of choice. Duo stepped closer and watched in awe. It was a training circle!  
  
The blond girl pulled a tattoo off her arm in the shape of a curved dagger and watched the boy with deep concentration, her body in a state of readiness. The boy responded by pulling out a blade shape of his own, yet his had two blades, reaching out from the handle in a V shape. A second later the two were moving.   
  
Intricate mixes of strikes and defense followed as the two circled each other and tried to get a cut in. Both were quite agile on their feet and they responded to the slightest of movements as naturally as a river would change course when it was dug a new route. Weapons flickered in the light from the sky and the dance grew quicker as they came closer to hitting each other. At one point the boy nearly cut the girl's cheek, only managing to make a small scrape across her soft skin. She responded by dropping away from him and immediately dropping her weapon. The next movement was so quick that Duo nearly missed it and the boy missed it completely.   
  
The girl pulled a rope looking tattoo off her leg, where the design was wrapped, and proceeded to snap her wrist. The rope struck out and wrapped around the boy's leg, jerking him to the ground. He gave a soft cry and landed hard on the ground. In a movement as smooth as air the girl grabbed her discarded blade and placed it to his chest, over his heart.  
  
The two stared at each other for a long moment, both breathing heavily from the exercise, then the girl pulled her blade back and replaced it back on her arm, where it melded with the skin. Offering her hand, the boy clasped it and she pulled him to his feet, a bright smile crossing both their faces.  
  
Duo clapped softly in delight at watching the kids. To be so young and yet already be so skilled at beating each other in combat. It was an amazing thing to watch. Yet at the same time it was also sad. Sad to think that this culture was hunted down so easily that they required their children to train like this at such a young age…  
  
Turning away from the training circle, as another pair of children was stepping in to practice, he concentrated on his own thoughts. He remembered the training circles for Wufei. He remembered that the prince had always hated those days and never really liked to fight with a sword. He preferred to fight with his mind against his enemies, and took the side that if arms were broken out then both sides had already lost the battle. In the end the only reason Wufei had agreed to learn was so Duo could have someone to practice with so he could hone his own skills. And in return he'd promised to protect Wufei with his sword… always.  
  
Even if that meant being his Shadow for the rest of his life.  
  
Duo sighed and reached his arms for the sky, stretching out. Yet he stopped in mid-stretch as a hauntingly familiar form crossed his vision. For a moment he thought he was just imagining things… but no he couldn't have been. Could he?  
  
He knew that hair and he definitely knew those eyes! It had to be him!  
  
Without thinking, he rushed to the doorway the form had disappeared into and found himself in a small bush house, filled with large pots and large openings in the ceiling, presumably for lighting purposes.  
  
"Sorata?"   
  
The figure in the corner froze and turned around to face him, and that's when Duo saw he'd made a mistake. The person standing in front of him definitely resembled the old palace advisor, but there were a few notable differences. For one, she was a female! Rather than having dark red hair that was nearly black, like Sorata had, hers was completely black and cut short, just under her ears. Shimmering blue eyes blinked at him in question, and he noticed interestingly that a small bit of her hair was braided to the side with a thin strip of blue fabric, making it look as if she'd changed the color of that small section of her hair.  
  
He gave a nervous grin and scratched the back of his head in a small gesture. "Sorry, I didn't mean to barge in. You just looked like someone I used to know…"  
  
She took a step forward and watched him closely. "You knew Sorata?"  
  
Duo nodded. "Yeah, you two look a lot alike you know?"  
  
The girl smiled softly, a hint of sadness crossing her expression. "I know, we are siblings after all."  
  
Duo's mouth dropped open in disbelief, but he quickly closed it realizing how stupid he must look. After closing his mouth he scolded himself for being so silly. After all, Sorata had been a Marked One, Heero had said that, so it made perfect sense that his family members could live in this village. He should have expected it. But he found that it still shocked him to imagine Sorata as having a younger sister who looked so much like him.  
  
The girl stepped closer. "You knew him?"  
  
Duo managed to nod and stop scolding himself for acting so strange.  
  
"Please, tell me about him?"  
  
Duo nodded and gave a smile. "Course."  
  
**  
  
After receiving his new clothes Wufei soon found himself in a corner of the village where a small group was gathered. Brei, the girl who he'd met earlier was perched on the low branch of a tree, with many young children clustered in front of her. All of the children were quite young, but all watched her with their utmost attention as she proceeded to tell them a lively story. In spite of himself the prince found himself pulled into the story, even though he'd managed to walk in so close to the end. Sitting at the very edge of the group he leaned against the trunk of a tree and listened as the cheerful red head moved into the exciting ending of her story. The children before her all held their breaths, waiting in tense anticipation.  
  
"She's good at that," said a feminine voice beside Wufei.  
  
The prince jumped and turned in surprise to see Annah, standing next to him, watching the other. Annah giggled softly.  
  
"Yes," he agreed, after recovering from the surprise.  
  
"I'm sure you have lots of stories to tell, yourself. About where you came from, your kingdom."  
  
Wufei shrugged. "Not many, it's just a normal kingdom to me. Full of people who lie, cheat and steal, and far too many who don't do anything about the injustices that exist."  
  
"See? Just what I mean! That sure sounds like a story to me."  
  
"No, I-"  
  
But Annah didn't listen. Instead she grinned and gave Wufei a hard shove forward, so he stumbled out into the group of wide-eyed children. Catching his balance he did his best not to fall on any of them, and instead found they quickly moved out of the way. And before he even realized it he was suddenly surrounded by many young, wide-eyed and curious children watching him. He swallowed and tried to calm his small amount of rising panic.  
  
He'd never dealt with children before!  
  
"You don't have any marks," one of the children spoke up. Many others joined in with noises of agreement and question.  
  
Wufei glanced at Brei, only to find her smiling in amusement at his confusion and the children's reactions. It seemed that she had finished her story though, so Annah's little push hadn't interrupted anything. Speaking of Annah, she was now sitting down next to some of the children, watching him with a playful grin on her face. He couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle at her.  
  
"Are you human?" One of the children asked, tugging on the bottom of his short pants.  
  
Wufei blinked at the question, but recovered quickly. "Yes."  
  
"You're from one of the villages outside! What are people like there?"  
  
"Well, umm," so much for royalty knowing everything. He was doing horribly with these children!   
  
"Yes, tell us where you're from!" Annah said, adding to the children's questions.  
  
Wufei though, now rapidly becoming used to the situation, took the question in stride. "I'm from a castle."  
  
One of the boys frowned at him and shook his head. "Nu-uh," he protested. "Only the people from Brei's stories are from castles. If you're from one then why don't you tell us what it looks like?"  
  
Wufei gave a small smirk to the boy and moved so he was sitting down among the children. After all, a proper storyteller never sat too far above his audience, or else no one would ever believe him. Sorata had taught him that long ago.  
  
"The castle I come from is made of large stones, reaching high over your heads, much like the trees around you. And we have pictures hanging on the walls, made of cloth, called tapestries."  
  
"Does it have holes in the ceiling like our homes for light?"  
  
Wufei shook his head. "We have windows in the walls, but they aren't very big. Instead we use fire for light."  
  
"But the smoke tells everyone where you are," one of the girls protested.  
  
"He's in a castle silly, everyone knows where he is," another responded with a short laugh.  
  
"Does everyone live in that castle?"  
  
"No, only a few people. My father owns it, and he watches the people in the town from the castle, trying to make sure that everyone is happy." Wufei acknowledged that wasn't exactly the truth, but he also recognized that these were children. Giving them the disgusting truth about how much he hated his father wasn't something he wanted to do, besides it wasn't really their problem to worry about.  
  
"You mean you're like Trowa!" Another boy said happily.  
  
"Yes, he is, in a way."  
  
Wufei looked up to see the vine covered leader of the Marked Ones standing a few feet away, watching them. Trowa stepped toward the children and nodded to Wufei, motioning for him to continue.  
  
"Are there any like us in your village?" One of the younger one's asked.  
  
Wufei couldn't help but frown at that one. "Not anymore."  
  
"Do you have any stories about them?"  
  
The prince's eyes moved to Trowa, asking for silent permission. Trowa responded with a short nod, granting it with an expression of interest.  
  
"I know a story that someone told me long ago. About a young boy, whose mother was a human woman and whose father was actually an Izardl…"  
  
All attention focused on the prince as he did his best to retell the story he remembered from so many nights ago. It had always been Duo's favorite story and Wufei had heard it retold many times, never once getting sick of the tale. Saying what he remembered and adding in small details where he saw fit he recited the story of the burnings that had orphaned Duo and so many other kids.   
  
And as he told everyone listened, watching him with their full attention.   
  
Even Quatre, who happened to walk by at that moment, paused behind a tree and listened intently. In fact, as Trowa noticed out of the corner of his eye, the small thief seemed to show particular interest in the story being told. And as the tale unfolded the leader of the Marked Ones found himself watching the expressions on the blond boy's face.  
  
One particular emotion stood out over his soft features and Trowa recognized it almost immediately.  
  
It was an expression of remembrance… 


	11. part 10

Chapter 10  
  
Duo took a seat in the small bush hut and glanced around him as Sorata's sister moved a few things around. She explained that she had a lot of work to do and that she had to check the liquid in the pots, but that she still wanted to hear about her brother, so she hoped Duo didn't mind her moving about. He said he didn't.  
  
Now Duo watched her and gave a small frown. "Do you, ummm, have a name?" He nearly laughed at himself for that. After all everyone had names, so it was a stupid question. But then again, he'd never been able to ask for someone's name before; they wouldn't have answered him.  
  
"Selenay," she responded with a smile. "How did you know him? What did he do at the castle?"  
  
Duo shrugged. "I'm not really sure what his job was actually. I think he was an advisor or something because I always saw him and Darrin speaking with the King. I just remember that he was always around the king, and spent his nights walking up and down the halls of the castle, like he was a guard."  
  
Selenay nodded and took a seat on the floor next to Duo, apparently resting in her work for the moment. "That would have been part of his job as a King's Guard. They are supposed to walk around the castles making sure that nothing is amiss."  
  
"King's Guard?"  
  
"Yes. Before they were chased out and caught the King's Guards were our eyes into the estates of the ruling classes. We didn't control them, like most people think, but we're a small race. We did it mostly to protect ourselves from occurrences like the Burnings and to protect those who couldn't live in the castle, the peasants."  
  
"That explains a lot of things." Duo leaned back on his arms and glanced up at the top of the hut, gazing through one of the many light-holes in the ceiling. He smirked as he wondered, what would happen if it rained? Then everything would get wet. He pulled his mind back to the topic.  
  
"I remember he was one of the few people in the castle who would talk to me, even though I was a Shadow. I caught him once, walking down the hall, and I saw a marking under his eye… like the ones Heero and Yuki have."  
  
Selenay nodded. "They were also trained as King's Guards, that mark under their eye is the symbol of their rank and ability to move their tattoos with a thought. Most of us don't get that powerful."  
  
"I never thought of it then, the tattoo, but it did look neat. Still, that was the first time he spoke to me, he made me promise not to tell anyone about his mark. I agreed, of course. I mean, I was just so thrilled that someone was actually talking to me that I would have done nearly anything for him. After that he started coming to Fei's room every night and he would tell us stories just before we fell asleep. And he would always listen to me when I spoke, even if he didn't always respond." Duo grinned at the memory. He'd forgotten how much he missed Sorata.  
  
Selenay's eyes were fixed on the ground of the hut as she asked the next question. And almost before she even said it Duo could guess what was coming.  
  
"How did he die?"  
  
Duo frowned. "That, I don't know. One night he told us a story and then the next morning he was gone. Fei asked Darrin where he went, but Darrin said he'd been sent away, as a messenger to another castle. But messengers usually come back… and he never did."  
  
She nodded and stood up, apparently accepting the answer. Duo was going to continue but was interrupted, for they both found Heero to be standing at the door the hut, watching them quietly. Duo nearly jumped in surprise, not having noticed him there, but Selenay seemed to take it in stride. It was almost as if she were used to him appearing out of no where.  
  
"Something you need?" She asked.  
  
Heero nodded and stepped into the hut, causing Duo to stare once again. The last time he'd seen the Marked One, Heero had been covered with dirty clothes from travelling just like the rest of them, but now there wasn't a speck of dust on him! And it only served to accent just how great he really did look, not to mention that his new choice of clothing added to the effect. Heero had changed into a simple wrap-around bottom, looking more like a skirt or kilt then anything else, made of a dark green fabric. But he had also completely lost his shirt, instead trading it for a set of two leather straps that just crisscrossed his chest. His tattoos were now in plain sight for all to see, covering the majority of his chest and back.   
  
Duo blinked and forced himself to stop staring; knowing that soon Heero would notice eyes on him. Why was he staring anyway? Heero had betrayed him! Heero was the one who'd gotten them into this whole mess in the first place. The fact that he was incredibly attractive shouldn't even make a dent in that solid reasoning.  
  
But then, Duo noticed that his reasons for hating Heero were pretty weak in the first place. Maybe Quatre was right… maybe he didn't really hate him.  
  
"I left one of mine at the castle." Heero moved forward and sat down on the ground, gesturing to his shoulder where the fabric was still wrapped around his wound. His eyes flickered once to Duo, but then no more. It was as if he were ignoring him. Duo frowned back at him.  
  
Selenay, meanwhile, moved about her work. Duo watched as she took one of the smaller pots and a roll of something in leather and went to sit next to Heero. Unrolling the leather she revealed a small collection of long metal needles, designed especially for marking the skin with ink. Duo shuddered at the sight. It only occurred to him just now how many times one would have to be poked just to have one small design done, and yet most of the people in the village had their whole bodies covered.  
  
She unwrapped the cloth around Heero's wound and gently pulled it away.  
  
"It was in pretty bad condition the last time I looked at it," Heero said, not looking at her.  
  
Selenay blinked. "You're kidding right?"  
  
"What?"  
  
Heero turned and tilted his arm up so he could see, and in amazement found the wound to be nearly healed. He stared at it for a moment, as did Duo in confusion, then shook the surprise away.  
  
"You took pretty good care of this." Selenay murmured, looking closer at the arm. "But it's still going to hurt to redo the design right over the scar. You sure you just don't want to let it completely heal first?"  
  
Heero shook his head.  
  
"Ok."  
  
And she set to work. Opening up the small pot she'd brought over Duo now saw that it was filled with a thick dark red liquid, carrying a pungent smell. No wonder she kept all the lids on those pots. He knew the Marked Ones made their tattoos from the blood of their ancestors, but hearing about it and watching it were two completely different experiences. So he just sat there and watched in fascination as Selenay began redoing the pattern over Heero's skin.   
  
**  
  
Quatre walked along the edge of the village, his eyes set on the ground before him. Idly he kicked a pinecone out of his path and walked on, not caring what direction he was going in. He just needed to be alone, needed time to yell at himself.  
  
He shouldn't have stayed and listened to that story! He shouldn't have stood there in plain sight for all to see as the Prince told his little tale to the children. It had been a stupid thing to do and it could only cause him more trouble in the end.  
  
He hated himself for slipping up so many times like this. It was always something like this that caused him to be found out. Always something small and innocent that shouldn't have made any difference, but it always did. Always something… Always his one moment of being weak and then they all noticed what he really was and they all turned around and chased him out. He was never allowed to stay in a place long.  
  
Cursing softly at himself he leaned back against a tree and sighed, glancing up at the sky. If he kept this up he would have to leave this town too. He supposed he'd only been lucky on the journey not to reveal himself, and he'd come so close to it to when he'd helped Heero with his wound.   
  
The only problem was that this time he couldn't run! They had been told not to leave the village, and he didn't want to! But he knew that eventually he would have to leave again, there wasn't enough people in this village for him to hide among, as he'd done back in the other town. They would notice him, he couldn't blend in without tattoos of his own, and he wouldn't dare get any for fear of drawing blood…  
  
What was he supposed to do?  
  
"You're near the edge of the village."  
  
Quatre looked up in surprise to see the leader of the Marked Ones step around a tree and walk toward him. His first instinct was to take off running, but he calmed himself instead, running would only draw suspicion and get him killed.  
  
"I was just walking… I wasn't paying attention to which direction I was going," he murmured.  
  
Trowa nodded. "So I gathered. I figured I'd warn you though. There are enough people on the edge of the village that don't ask questions when one without tattoos enters the territory they are supposed to be protecting."  
  
In other words, Quatre thought silently, I'll be killed if I step outside the village. Great, just great.  
  
The leader of the Marked Ones stood there for a long moment, just watching Quatre. His one visible eye gave Quatre the creeps, as did the tattooed one which was currently on the back of his right hand, blinking and looking around.  
  
Quatre frowned. "How come you don't have any weapons, like everyone else?"  
  
Trowa gave a small shrug. "We all have weapons, mine are just harder to notice, and yet the easiest thing to see."  
  
Quatre blinked in confusion at the strange riddle.  
  
"We should head back."  
  
The blond nodded numbly, just watching the other. They both headed back for the village, with Quatre walking a step behind Trowa. As he walked the strange eye bloomed on Trowa's back shoulder and blinked, watching him closely like a real eye might. Quatre shivered.  
  
Could he actually see out of that tattoo?  
  
Well at least he could count his blessing for the moment. No one seemed overly suspicious about who or what he was. Maybe, if he was lucky, he could keep it that way. Maybe he could live in this town without letting them know the terrible truth. Maybe, just this once, he could hide it from everyone.  
  
But he knew better then to get his hopes up.  
  
**  
  
As night neared the activity in the village died down to a mellow state. The three visitors were led, along with a good number of the Marked Ones, to a large rectangular structure in nearly the center of the village. It turned out to be the largest of the bush-like buildings, using trees like support beams and to add to the camouflage effect. The ground on the inside of this building was soft, covered with fresh plants and moss and pine needles, creating a very comfortable and soft ground, despite the messy look. They also noticed a large number of woven pieces of cloth rolled in the corners.  
  
"It's a sleeping house," Quatre murmured softly.  
  
Trowa nodded, as he and the three guests stood off to the side. Duo watched as Brei and Annah ushered in the children from the village and they curled up in the very center of the hut, then the adults took their own blankets and laid themselves around the children, usually lying two to a blanket.  
  
As it turned out the entire village slept in this one hut, for protection and for ease. They also slept in a large circle around the children, mostly for the same reasons.  
  
"I'm afraid we do not have many extra blankets, I would suggest you sleep two to a blanket for warmth, it does get quite cold here at night." And with those words Trowa took his own blanket and moved out to find a place to sleep.   
  
Wufei opened his mouth to make a comment about sleeping arrangements when someone suddenly grabbed onto his arm and yanked him slightly to the side. He turned in surprise to see Annah had wrapped her arms securely around one of his.   
  
"You can share with me, I don't mind. Besides, my sister's off with Yuki anyway, she won't care."  
  
The prince was going to protest but was surprised to find he really had nothing to say. In reality, he realized, he didn't want to protest. So, instead, he just didn't say anything and gave in to her tugging him toward an empty place on the floor. Meanwhile Duo smirked and Quatre gave a light giggle.  
  
"There's a couple left, I guess we can share," Quatre said, picking up one of the blankets and gesturing toward one of the few empty spaces left. Duo shrugged and followed him over, where they both laid down on the ground and pulled the blanket over themselves.  
  
Anywhere else it might have seemed odd to sleep two to a blanket in a room full of people. Weren't these people worried about modesty? Apparently it didn't matter who you shared a blanket with because there was a wide variety. Men sharing with men. Women with women. Men with women. Old with young. Nearly every combination anyone could think of, save that the youngest of the children were clustered toward the center. But then, Duo noticed, even they shared blankets with each other.  
  
Apparently it wasn't strange at all. There was nothing intimate about sharing a blanket with someone in the sleeping hut, aside from maybe showing that you trusted that person enough to sleep next to them. Duo did notice, however, that Trowa slept alone, near the main door. He figured it was rank, or maybe it was also Trowa's job to watch over people while they slept. Either way, it didn't look like the warmest way to sleep.  
  
Heero was the last to enter the hut, just as Duo was about to close his eyes. The silent Marked One grabbed one of the last remaining blankets and headed straight for Duo, oddly enough taking the small space right next to him.  
  
Duo groaned softly. "Just what do you think you are doing?" He whispered angrily, knowing that a good number of the people in the hut had already fallen asleep.  
  
"This is the only space left." Heero responded in a low threatening tone.  
  
Duo just growled softly and rolled over on his side. He wanted to tell Heero to go find a different place to sleep, but he knew the Marked One was probably telling the truth about this being the only open spot. Not to mention that he was also a guest and he had no right to tell any of them where to sleep. So Duo contented himself to rolling away from Heero, turning his back to him completely, and facing Quatre, who'd already drifted off to sleep.  
  
As he drifted off he thought he heard a soft sigh of sadness but figured it must have been his imagination… or someone else drifting off to sleep.  
  
**  
  
Heero lay there for what must have been a couple hours, just staring at the back of Duo's head and at his long hair, which glinted with a bit of red in the moonlight that shown through the air holes above. He tried to sleep, but he just couldn't and he couldn't for the life of him figure out why not! All around him he could hear the sound of his people sleeping softly, despite the three who didn't belong. No one was worried about them. Even the children seemed to be sleeping lightly without any nightmares.  
  
Was he the only one not able to sleep?  
  
Siting up silently he left his blanket discarded on the ground and brushed some of the fresh leaves and dirt from his clothing. He let out a soft sigh and ran a hand through his messed hair as he headed for the door.  
  
Maybe he could put his insomnia to use and let one of the other guards get a rare night's sleep…  
  
"Trouble sleeping?"  
  
Heero looked up to see Trowa leaning against one of the two trees which marked the entrance to the sleeping house and helped hold up the massive structure of branches and leaves. The leader of the Marked Ones was just leaning there, his eyes focused on the forest beyond the hut, there was no way he could have seen Heero. Yet his tattooed eye was resting on the back of his shoulder and looking straight at the marked warrior. Heero gave a short nod and stepped out of the sleeping hut, joining Trowa in leaning up against the tree on the outside.  
  
"What will you do?" Trowa asked softly. Around them everything was alive with the lively sounds of the night, but still both whispered, as if not wishing to break a fragile silence.  
  
"Travel back with them, correct my mistake." Heero responded.  
  
"There's something beyond that. I've known you for a long time, Heero, normally something like this wouldn't bother you enough for you to lose sleep over it."  
  
Heero frowned and tilted his head down; looking from the trees and forest ahead to the plants which surrounded his feet. He'd often wondered why it was Trowa, of all people, who'd been chosen to lead what small amount of them there was left. He'd often wondered how such a burden affected his older friend, since they'd grown up together for a large amount of their lives. They were nearly brothers, in every sense but blood. Was it Trowa's leadership skills or simply their old friendship that allowed him to read Heero's emotions so easily? Or maybe he just wasn't hiding them as well as he thought.  
  
"I don't understand him," he said softly.  
  
Trowa's eyebrow lifted up in interest but otherwise he didn't respond.  
  
"I thought he would hate the prince. I thought he would hate him for being whipped and treated like that his entire life. But I misjudged him. I got too attached and my feelings got in the way of what I'd gone there to do in the first place." He paused for a moment and turned his head to look completely away from his friend, the moon lighting his profile in the night.  
  
"I just don't understand how he can be so happy and cheerful with everything that's happened to him."  
  
Beside him Trowa pushed away from the tree and took a few steps away from the hut. He knelt down and picked a leaf from a large plant growing at his feet. Standing back up he turned the leaf over in his hands then glanced at Heero.  
  
"What amazes you, Heero?"  
  
Heero glanced up in surprise and question. "Amazes me?"   
  
"What amazes you?" Trowa repeated. He took the plant and methodically began smoothing out the curves with his fingers. As he worked he turned his head and looked across the opening in the village, toward a smaller cluster of trees where two figures sat. Heero followed Trowa's gaze and noticed it was two females sitting in the moonlight, curled in each other's arms as they spoke in soft voices and one cradled the other.  
  
He recognized the two figures as Yuki and Brei, who usually spent their nights sleeping under the stars in each other's arms, rather than in the sleeping hut with everyone else.  
  
"They amaze me," Trowa said softy.   
  
Heero blinked in question.  
  
"Everything about them. Yuki was much like you, you remember, after Sorata left. When her teacher left and was assigned to watch King Chang she was solemn and quiet, even brooding. Yet she and Brei came together and now she's always smiling and happy. Even though they both know that one day she will be sent to a kingdom and Brei will not be able to follow. Even though they both know that Yuki will probably never return from the kingdom where she is assigned. And yet they still were marked with necklaces that bind them together in life and death. That amazes me."  
  
Heero knew the story of the two girls, because it was so rare in the village and among his people. It used to be common place in the past, when a couple was bonded together they would have the other's symbol tattooed around their neck in the shape of a necklace. While it was a show of complete and undying love for each other, it also carried a heavy price. Because of the power of such tattoos it made the two truly bonded together.  
  
In the past, when the magic in their blood was much more powerful, the death of one with a necklace would almost always end in the death of their partner. Because of this and the few number of Marked Ones that were left the practice was forbidden many years before Heero was born. Still Yuki and Brei had done it. They'd come to Trowa one night a few years after Sorata's leave and begged Trowa for permission. Trowa had granted it. Whatever Yuki had said to him had convinced the Marked leader that it was worth the risk and he'd allowed it. Ever since then the two were nearly inseparable.  
  
"He amazes me," Trowa whispered softly.  
  
Heero glanced up from his memories and found that Trowa had moved once again and now he was gazing into the sleeping hut at one of the many sleeping bodies on the floor. Heero stepped up beside him, just enough to see who he was looking at. To Heero's surprise he found his friend was looking at the young blond thief sleeping peacefully next to Duo. Heero blinked once again in question. Him?  
  
"It amazes me that he's been able to survive this long on his own. No family, no one to care for him other than himself. It amazes me he'd been able to survive this long without knowing what he truly is, or what he can do." Trowa's voice took on a softer tone, one that a parent might use when speaking of a child… or that a lover might use to speak of his partner. "He amazes me," Trowa whispered softly, almost too soft to hear.  
  
Heero watched his friend in amazement. Was he reading Trowa's expressions right? That soft tone of his voice, that small light in his eyes, the wistful expression on his face… Trowa was in love with the blond.   
  
That realization came as a small shock to Heero and he just stood there, watching his friend's wistful expression. It was so rare to see such a look on Trowa's face. And even more rare for him to see his friend in love with another… and a human no less.  
  
But the moment faded as Trowa dropped the smoothed leaf from his hand and it floated silently to the ground. He turned to Heero and gave him a very small nod, clasping his hand on Heero's bare shoulder.  
  
"Find what amazes you, Heero. Find it and hold onto it with all your strength. Don't let it get away or you will regret it for the rest of your life."  
  
With those words Trowa turned and disappeared into the sleeping hut, leaving Heero to stand on his own out in the darkness. He stood there for a moment, just staring. What did Trowa mean? Kneeling down he wrapped his fingers around the smoothed leaf Trowa had dropped and just knelt there, looking at it.  
  
"Find what amazes me," he murmured softly.  
  
He stood up and his eyes slipped to where Duo was sleeping. The Shadow had turned over in his sleep and had rolled away from Quatre to lie, blanket-less, where Heero had been. Heero watched as Duo's body twitched and jerked a few times, his face pulled together in an expression of pain.  
  
Dropping the leaf Heero walked over, careful not to make any sound. Gently, without much thought, he helped Duo roll back to his spot and smoothed the boy's damp bangs away from his face. As he touched Duo he noticed that the Shadow's expression became softer and whatever nightmares he seemed to be having faded away into a peaceful sleep.  
  
Heero took his blanket and laid it over Duo's shoulders then laid down next to him and just stared at the boy's now peaceful face.  
  
Do you amaze me? Heero asked softly in his head.  
  
Obviously Duo didn't answer, for he was still sleeping. But then, Heero didn't really need him to; he already knew the answer.  
  
** 


	12. part 11

Chapter 11  
  
It was early morning as Kyp moved through the trees by his village. He was one of the many guards who surrounded the village at all times, to make sure that outsiders didn't come in or go out. It wasn't a job he really liked, he would have preferred staying with Selenay and learning more about tattoo designs, but they all had to take their turns guarding to protect the others.  
  
There were so few Marked Ones left…  
  
Behind him the sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon, sending streams of light to dispel the darkness and twilight. From his perch in the thick branches he could see far out over the forest, where he noticed large amounts of movement but most of it was the normal kind, animals searching for food and plants in the soft morning breeze.  
  
Still, he noticed there weren't many birds around. Weren't they usually singing their hearts out in the morning as if this was the first morning they'd ever seen in their lives? Why were the woods so silent?  
  
Taking one of his weapons from his leg, which turned out to be a long curved sword, he gently dropped down from his branch to the ground. Before investigating anything he took out another tattoo and threw it deep into the trees where he knew another was waiting. It was a symbol that he'd gone to check on something, and to be on the look out. Turning back to where he was he stepped in among the tall grasses to see if there was anything suspicious.  
  
He never did return from those tall grasses, and there was barley even a sound to tell what had gone on there. Not even a cry of surprise when he was attacked from behind, they never gave him a chance.  
  
But while the intruders were able to catch Kyp, they missed his partner up in the trees, who he'd thrown the signal to. They missed her, only managing a single arrow in her arm as she fled.  
  
And then the forest was alive with movement and sound, because they'd been found out. Hiding was very pointless now… for both sides.  
  
**  
  
"Trowa! Everyone! Wake Up!"  
  
Nearly as one the entire sleeping hut sat up. The small number of Marked Ones were, in a matter of moments, awake and alert, all listening to the person who'd raced in yelling. Wufei looked beside him and found Annah had thrown the blanket to the side and was already on her feet, alert. What was going on?  
  
"How many?" He heard Heero's voice from the inside of the hut, somewhere in the crowd of moving, but silent people.  
  
"Too many… too many to count. Arrows. Swords. Fire."  
  
That brought Wufei to his feet and he pushed through the crowd to the front, where the woman stood, shouting her warning. He noticed a piece of an arrow imbedded in her arm, most of it broken away as not to hinder movement. An arrow? Fire? Swords? His sleep-dazed mind took a few seconds before he realized who it probably was. Darrin had followed them!  
  
"What color were they wearing?" He demanded.  
  
"Purple, light purple sashes."  
  
Wufei turned and met eyes with Trowa, who now stood only a few feet away. "It's Darrin's men. They must have followed us here"  
  
"Or they found your horse when we set it free. In either case there is no time to place blame." He raised his voice so that all in the large house could hear. "Get the children to the caves and the rest of you stall them! Do not, under any circumstances let them follow!"  
  
With those words the small crowd swept out of the sleeping hut. The Prince watched in astonishment as everyone seemed to know what they were doing and where they were going. The various Marked Ones had already pulled out their weapons and were rushing out into the rising sunlight. Only a handful remained in the sleeping hut to help gather up the children, among them was Selenay and Annah. Brei and Yuki stood near the door, where Yuki placed a quick kiss on Brei's cheek. The red head wore a determined look on her face.  
  
"Don't you dare disappear on me, Yuki," Brei said.  
  
"Get the children to safety, I promise I'll meet you there."  
  
With those words Yuki was gone out the door, her weapons already in hand and ready to fight.  
  
"Where are you going? Are you going to fight them?" Wufei turned to see Duo standing up and racing after Heero, who was heading for the exit of the hut. Quatre was no where to be seen among the small number left. But Wufei hadn't seen the small thief race out of the hut…  
  
Heero merely grunted an affirmative.  
  
"Then I'm going with you. Darrin is our responsibility, and I'll happily help you skin his ass." Duo's face twisted into a devilish grin at that.  
  
Wufei raced over to his Shadow, ready to take up arms as well. But before he was able to say a single thing Duo turned to him with a deadly serious glare. That look caught the Prince off guard and he froze in shock.   
  
"Go with the children," Duo said.  
  
Wufei's eyes narrowed, how dare his Shadow order him around! "No, I'm fighting as well."  
  
"Are you stupid?!" Duo yelled. His voice was so loud and so unexpected that Wufei took a shocked step back and just starred at his friend. He'd never seen Duo react so violently before.  
  
"Think about it, Fei," the braided Shadow said in a harsh voice. "That's what Darrin wants you to do. He'd probably like nothing better then to find you on a battlefield so he can chop you to pieces and bring your body home triumphantly. And then who can take him from the throne? No one. Look, we know that your father has to be dead, and therefore you are king. You CAN NOT go rushing out into battle like one of us. I don't care if you are the best warrior on this side of the continent you are not going out there to fight! I've never put my foot down against you before but now I'm going to. You're going with the children and you are going to stay safe. You are the one person in this battle who cannot afford to die."  
  
Wufei blinked in shocked silence, just watching his friend. Then his shoulders slumped just slightly and he nodded. Every fiber of his body wanted to grab the nearest sword and run out to fight among his Shadow and his newly found friends. He wanted to protect those around him and fight along with them, an equal on the battlefield. He knew he could fight and he literally ached to now that they were in danger.  
  
But he also acknowledged that Duo was right. No matter what the outcome of this battle - and they could easily be defeated and killed - the most important thing was to keep Wufei alive. In the large picture of things a few Marked warriors and a Shadow didn't matter. But the Prince did, and it was Wufei's duty to his people to stay alive long enough to oppose and kick Darrin off the throne. He had to stay alive and set things right, no matter how much he wanted to fight.  
  
Wufei watched Duo and Heero race out of the hut, leaving him alone with the children and the three women left to lead them to the caves. As he neared them Annah reached up and clasped his hand, giving it a squeeze.  
  
"Trust them. Heero will make sure your friend comes back alive."  
  
Wufei nodded to her.  
  
Brei knelt down among the children, who were all waiting in silent fear. "Do you all remember what we practiced? You all know where the caves are, right?"  
  
The children nodded.  
  
"Then when I say I want you all to run to them, as fast as you can. Do not worry about the things happening around you and do not stop, no matter what. It's a race, get to the caves as quickly as you can and hide there. Ready?"  
  
The children all stood up and nodded, ready to go. Brei and Selenay moved to the door and looked out, checking the area outside. There was a soft whistling from outside and Wufei glanced up to see an arrow lit with fire imbed itself in the roof of the sleeping hut, immediately the branches burst into flames.  
  
The soldiers were that close?! He stood up with the children and picked up the two smallest ones, holding on in his arms and letting the other hold on to his back. He knew their small legs wouldn't be able to carry them as far, so he figured he might as well be a little useful by carrying them. Annah followed his example and took two others.  
  
"GO!" Brei yelled and jumped back from the door. The children bolted, one young boy taking the lead. Wufei recognized him as the one who'd spoken up during his story telling. The boy, Hijiri, was easily one of the oldest and could have run quicker then most of them, but he'd also picked up one of the younger one and was carrying her, causing his speed to be slowed.  
  
As they ran, all around them they could hear the sounds of the fight. Arrows flew over head, setting off fires around them, which ate away at the houses. The village was lost, as were whatever possessions the Marked Ones held, but no one raced into the huts to save anything. Instead they were all busy fighting or running with the children. Wufei recognized with a sad expression that they had been prepared for something like this. There was so much organization in their actions that it was obvious they'd lived most of their lives expecting this to happen sooner or later. What a horrible way to live!  
  
Steeling himself he tried to increase his pace and ducked around a few trees as arrows flew in his direction. He resolved to make it to the caves, and what's more, when he got back to his kingdom, he would fix this. He promised himself he would do whatever he could to make sure that in the future the Marked Ones wouldn't have to live with the fear of being hunted down like animals. No human, or non-human for that matter, deserved to live in such a way as this.  
  
**  
  
Duo stepped out into the crowd of fighting soldiers, his sword at ready. His face held a grin of pure demonic glee as he reached down and pulled the tie out of his hair. Swinging his sword he ran after the first soldier in sight, knocking him to the ground. Focusing all his anger he took it out on the soldiers. How dare they destroy this place! How dare they attack his new friends! How dare they attack the people who treated him as a human!  
  
He recognized a few of the soldiers, and nearly all of them recognized him as the Prince's Shadow, which worked to his advantage. Like true trained soldiers they did their job, attempting to cut down everyone who opposed them, but a few of them were taken aback to find the Prince's Shadow fighting around the Marked Ones. And when those men frozen in a mere second of confusion Duo struck.   
  
He didn't like to kill people, what sane person would!? But he also recognized that these soldiers were employed by Wufei's father and they would kill without mercy. He had to protect his new friends, if that meant killing, then so be it. As for the grinning? Well, it was mostly to unnerve all of them.  
  
As he moved through the charging soldiers, fighting them and protecting his friends his hair became unraveled from the braid and spread out around him, nearly covering his entire body in a curtain of chestnut hair that glinted red in the light.  
  
Amazingly no swords hit him. No arrows made it past his hair to pierce his skin and no one even got close enough to touch him. If anyone had stopped to watch Duo's actions, they would have noticed that amazingly his hair was deflecting all the weapons and blows. Any sword which hit up against his hair, met with a shield of something stronger then the strongest metal in existence. Nothing cut through Duo's hair and it afforded him the perfect shield. If anyone had stopped to watch they might have been afraid of the dark clothed boy with the wild, unbreakable hair… but most people didn't have time to register the fear before they found themselves face down on the ground and still.  
  
**  
  
Yuki moved around in the battle from the trees above. Like Heero her weapons were designed for assassinations and anonymous attacks, not one on one contact. As a result she limited her movements to the large branches overhead, where she used her hook like darts to knock off the soldiers without them knowing what hit them. Still, she only had so many weapons tattooed on her body, only so many weapons.  
  
Dropping down from the tree she landed on one of the soldiers, crushing him into the ground. Moving quickly she grabbed his sword and used it to make sure he stayed down and still. Holding the sword tightly she moved out to fight among the others, and just prayed that she would remember all the things Sorata had taught her about one on one combat.  
  
**  
  
Out of all of the Marked Ones fighting Trowa was the easiest target, or so it seemed. Unlike Wufei, who'd been practically forced to go with the children, Trowa would never think of doing such a thing. But then, their situations were very different so he held nothing about the human prince, in fact he probably would have made Wufei run for the caves as well, it was quite a sensible thing to do.  
  
He, on the other hand, didn't have that luxury. Despite his apparent rank among his people he recognized that in the end he was merely one of them, no higher or lower. In many ways his rank was merely for show for the outsiders and to help decide matters that could not be made by his people as a whole. So in times of battle he fought with them, always aware that if he died another would easily take his place and nothing would really be lost save for his life.  
  
Moving through the chaos of fighting he walked like he was in a peaceful field, his expression blank. Only his eyes betrayed the scene around him as they darted around, watching everything around him. Also the vines across his skin were alive in action, darting out at serpentine speeds to catch and knock arrows off their courses, and strangle any soldier who dared come close. The few who did make it close enough to fight with a sword found themselves picked up off the ground and tossed away, usually into a tree which caused them to lose consciousness.  
  
What Trowa had told Quatre the night before was quite true. His weapons were hard to see yet obvious to anyone. After all, not many people expected actual vines to fight back against them. He used this to his advantage and did the best he could among his fighting people. They only needed to stall the soldiers a little longer and then get to the caves… just long enough to hurt their numbers and make sure the children made it out safe.   
  
Just a little longer…  
  
**  
  
The children ran quickly and after what was clearly a long run, Wufei saw the trees open up to a small clearing where the far side was lined with high rocky walls. The forest led right to a set of thick granite mountains… these must be the caves Trowa meant! They were so close to safety…  
  
But before they could even reach the caves a large group of soldier stepped out of the trees and blocked their way. Darrin's soldiers?! Here!? That meant they had the village surrounded and there were more of them then Wufei thought. He and the children jumped back as Brei set down the children she was carrying and Hijiri looped around to join the obvious fight.  
  
Brei pulled a long tattoo from her arm which become a razor sharp whip made of connected yet flexible blades. Without even a moment's hesitation she jumped forward, right into the center of the soldiers, surprising them all with her boldness.  
  
Wufei leg go of the children he was carrying and tackled one of the soldiers, doing his best to wrestle away the man's sword. Meanwhile Annah attacked the two remaining ones on the outskirts of the group. These three sudden attacks took the soldiers off guard, allowing for a hole in their blocking of the path. The children escaped with Selenay through that hole and disappeared safely into the caves.  
  
"Go with the children!" Brei yelled at Wufei as she used her whip to slice across one man's chest. He crumbled to the ground in a groaning, bloody mess.  
  
Wufei didn't have to ask twice, he understood the warning. It only occurred to him just recently that the caves would be full of tunnels, mazes of them, making it hard for anyone to follow. But those mazes would also make it very hard for anyone who didn't know their way.  
  
As if hearing his thoughts Annah broke away from the fight and grabbed Wufei's arm, pulling him as fast as she could toward the caves. He spared a glance over his shoulder at Brei but wasn't able to do anything to help her. He just hoped she would be fine on her own against the three who were still standing and fighting. Luckily none of them broke away to follow.  
  
Brei jumped back from the group and snapped her whip, slashing it across one of the men's faces, causing him to lose his flimsy leather helmet. But the other two men moved quickly and caught her whip with their swords. One used his sword to impale the weapon and trap it against the ground.   
  
She felt that!  
  
A pain stabbed into her arm as he shoved his blade through the tattoo weapon, locking it to the ground. She felt a burning sensation fly up through her arm, just as if she'd been stabbed and not her weapon. The pain was intense, causing her to cry out and stumbled backward, falling to the ground.  
  
Anyone else would have been trained to deal with the pain and keep fighting but Brei's primary job was taking care of the children of the village. She wasn't prepared for an all out battle like this! Rolling away from the men she clutched her arm and gritted her teeth, doing her best to ignore the shearing pain in her arm. She ignored it and pulled out another weapon to throw, but the pain interfered with her concentration and she missed, the sharp blade flying past the men to land somewhere in a tree trunk.  
  
The three soldiers neared her, closing in quickly. She moved back, trying to think of something, but she couldn't think. Her arm felt like it was being torn apart…  
  
"Brei!!"   
  
She turned her head to see the small shape of Hijiri racing out from the cave, weapon in hand. The weapon was original, and she vaguely remembered Selenay mentioning that Hijiri had designed it himself. It was a short pole, about half the length of his arm, with a long beveled design down the sides. At each end of the pole were two curved and nasty looking blades.   
  
Weapon in hand and racing forward the young boy didn't seem to care about the size of the soldiers, nor their sharp weapons. Charging forward and screaming to get their attention he slashed at them, amazingly managing to send one down before someone countered his sword. Unfortunately the counter was strong and it knocked the weapon from Hijiri's hands, sending it spiraling somewhere behind him.  
  
Now both were trapped outside the caves with very few weapons. Hijiri wasn't old enough to have many other tattoos aside from his blade one which was now lost in the grass. Likewise Brei had been reduced to her throwing blades, which didn't do her any good since she couldn't concentrate well enough to aim.  
  
She did manage to use one of the larger ones to catch the soldier's sword, but that would only work so long and sweat was beading down her face, into her vision.  
  
Another shape appeared between her and the two remaining soldiers, knocking them back in a charge of pure strength. Both Brei and Hijiri stared and blinked, surprised to find it was actually Quatre who stood in front of them, panting hard and holding a bleeding wound on his shoulder.  
  
One of the men gave a low growl and jumped forward, swinging his blade high. Quatre, who had no weapon of his own, didn't seem phased at all. Instead he just narrowed his eyes and caught the blade barehanded.  
  
Brei winced at the sickening sound of the sharp metal cutting through the young thief's flesh. What in the world was he thinking catching the blade barehanded?!  
  
Quatre gave a sharp gasp, hissing in pain as the man pulled his sword back and gave a nervous laugh.  
  
"Stupid kid, don't you know not to catch a blade barehanded? It can kill you."  
  
Quatre's eyes narrowed and a small chuckle emitted from his lips, sending a shiver down Brei's back and causing the guard to take a step back in surprise.  
  
"Stupid human," Quatre hissed as he watched the blood flow from the deep cuts in his hands. "Don't you know not to attack an Izardl with a blade? I will kill you."  
  
Izardl!?  
  
The soldier's cocky look shriveled away and he dropped his blade, both backing away quickly from the chuckling form of Quatre. But Quatre didn't let them get that far away. In a flurry of movement, which Brei watched holding her breath, the rivers of blood flowing from Quatre's hands became solid and struck out like long flexible blades.  
  
The blades sliced through the air in a hissing rage, cutting the soldiers literally into pieces, where they crumbled apart and fell to the ground. Even after the soldiers were quite dead the blades kept slicing, cutting down trees and branches. Some of them even came dangerously close to hitting Hijiri but luckily he was able to move out of the way in time.  
  
"Please stop…" Quatre whispered hoarsely as his eyes widened in terror. Whatever had caused him to chuckle in such a creepy way before was now gone, only leaving a very frightened young blood whose blood was slicing the world around him apart.  
  
"STOP!" He screamed out louder, crying out with all his might. All at once the blades melted into liquid and fell to the ground around him. Quatre soon followed, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as he collapsed into a still heap on the ground.  
  
** 


	13. part 12

Chapter 12  
  
Heero took the two blades from his shoulders and held them tightly, one in each hand. Jumping into the battle before him he used them much like daggers, moving around and slashing through the air. The tall soldiers around him didn't have a chance to react to his quick, watery smooth, movements as they were all sent to the ground.  
  
He moved through the men without much thought, his mind concentrating on the battle. He narrowed his thoughts to the simplest of instincts and then opened those to their fullest ability. To fight. To live. To survive. He used his body just like the weapons in his hands, focusing it all on one goal: to come out of this battle alive, or at least in better shape then those he sent dead to the ground.   
  
Before he knew it the fighting around him had died down. Bodies lay on the ground, wounded or dead, most not moving. A quick look around and Heero spotted the others who were still fighting. But there weren't many soldiers left, and in the distance he could see a few running off and disappearing into the trees.  
  
Going for reinforcements?  
  
Frowning he raced over toward the others, making his way toward Trowa.  
  
"Reinforcements will be coming soon," he said, jerking his head toward the retreating soldiers.  
  
Trowa nodded, his vines tossing away one of the few remaining men who attempted to hurt him with a sword. "Head to the caves, we must get there before the reinforcements arrive."  
  
Heero nodded once and turned, making his way toward the caves. As he ran he replaced his blades back on his shoulders, feeling the familiar cold metal melt back to become a part of his skin.   
  
He didn't need to round up the others, didn't need to tell them where to go. Instead he just moved for the caves, knowing that they would follow. All the Marked Ones were prepared for an attack like this, they all knew what the signals were to retreat, and one of them was Heero racing for the caves at top speed.  
  
Footsteps fell in behind him and he glanced over his shoulder just once, surprised to see Duo behind him. For a moment Heero didn't even recognize the Shadow, since he'd never seen Duo with his hair down before. But now it was a sight he was sure he wouldn't forget, even if he'd only glanced over his shoulder for a mere second.  
  
Duo's dark clothes were almost perfectly intact, with very few cuts to be seen. His showing skin glistened with sweat from the strain and excretion of fighting, while his eyes burned with the familiar fire of a warrior in his finest hour. Duo looked every bit like he'd been fighting just as much as Heero, save for the very interesting fact that there was barely a scratch on him. His skin remained unbroken in all places that Heero could see and any blood that was one the Shadow certainly wasn't his own. Duo's unbraided and loose hair only added to the eerieness of his condition as it swirled around his body in the non-existent breeze.  
  
"Are we retreating now?" Duo asked, matching his pace to Heero's so they were only a few steps apart.   
  
Heero grunted an affirmative and picked up speed, hearing more footsteps falling in behind him. This time he didn't have to look back to tell who they were. He knew it was his own people following Trowa's unspoken order to retreat. All of them were now headed for the caves as fast as they could move. Wounded were gathered from the ground and carried, but not many of them were wounded, least not badly. As he ran Heero noticed very few still bodies of his fellow Marked Ones, for which he was very grateful. Thankfully only the soldiers had suffered major losses.  
  
They reached the caves only to be greeted with darkness and silence. There was no sign of the children or of the others that hadn't joined in the fight. Heero stopped at the entrance to the cave and waited in watch, carefully eyeing the trees around them as the others ran inside. It was his job to watch for any soldiers who might follow. His kind knew the caves so well they could lose anyone in there, provided they weren't following right behind.  
  
Soon everyone was inside and Heero followed the last person in. With a small amount of interest he noted that Duo had entered the caves but hadn't gone much further in. Instead the Shadow had elected to quickly re-braid his hair as he waited for Heero to enter the caves.   
  
Upon entering the cave he moved around completely from memory. None of the Marked Ones carried torches or any other source of light. Instead all had been taught the caves as soon as they were old enough to walk, in preparation for this day. Everyone knew the route by heart… except Duo. Heero watched with a small amount of confusion and amusement as Duo held onto his wrist, silently asking Heero to guide him through the utter darkness.  
  
He expected Duo to hesitate or talk to one of the others, considering the misunderstanding between them but Duo didn't. In fact he seemed perfectly content with letting Heero lead him through the darkness. Did Duo trust him now? Was it safe for him to think such an irrational thing? Heero could only hope.  
  
The caves twisted and turned around them, rising and falling. They passed many openings and different passages but all the Marked Ones knew where to go, keeping at least one hand on the wall as they moved. Silence filled the caves save for their echoing footsteps and the muted sounds of water running somewhere in the distance. Heero acknowledged that the first time he'd entered these caves it had taken him an eternity to find his way out again, but now it was all familiar. And in no time at all he reached the meeting place.  
  
The thin cavern walls opened up to reveal a large room where there was a hall in the ceiling. Fresh air! Not to mention this one hole provided a very small amount of light that wasn't visible around the corner from which they had come. To his relief he found the majority of the village inhabitants had gathered here and there weren't many missing, though a good number seemed to be nursing small wounds and resting. Nearly all of them had made it out alive, as far as he could tell. Heero's people had faired better than he expected.  
  
"You should have been there, Trowa, you wouldn't have believed it! I barely do!"  
  
Heero turned to see Trowa standing in the corner speaking with Brei and Hijiri in hushed voices. Yuki stood next to Brei, apparently they'd already exchanged their greetings, and now Brei was telling Trowa a very animated stories as Yuki was trying to remind her to keep her voice down so they wouldn't attract attention. Discreetly Heero took a few steps closer to listen. Duo, on the other hand, walked over and made it very clear he was listening.  
  
Hijiri nodded his head. "It was like in all the old stories Brei tells, people using their blood as weapons!" His eyes were lit up in amazement and Heero knew he must have been repeating whatever events they were speaking about in his mind. Whatever had happened it had shocked them, but also amazed them. Now Heero was very curious.  
  
Trowa frowned slightly. "What happened? Slowly, Brei."  
  
Brei took a deep breath and nodded, calming down. "We were getting the children to the caves, but the soldiers must have suspected we would do this and there was a group waiting for us. I stayed behind to distract them while the children got away," Yuki flashed a look of concern at this but said nothing. Brei continued, "I wasn't able to take on all of them, so Hijiri ran out to help. But Quatre appeared out of nowhere and caught the blade with his bare hands. He said something about being Izardl and then his blood came to life and killed the soldiers. Not like our tattoos, but his actual blood became blades and cut them to pieces. His blood!"  
  
Trowa's eyes widened. "Is he all right?"  
  
Brei nodded. "He's resting over… there." Her voice died as she pointed to a section of wall, but it was empty. Heero frowned, Quatre must have overheard and taken off.  
  
Trowa must have suspected the same thing because he glanced at Heero in question, but Heero shook his head. He hadn't seen which direction the blond thief had gone, and that meant only one thing. Quatre was some where in the caves around them, wandering off and probably lost.  
  
"All right, I want everyone to keep moving through the caves to the other side. A small group will remain behind to look for him; we can't leave him wandering around when the soldiers are out there. And we are not leaving him lost in here."  
  
"I'm staying," Duo said immediately. "It's my fault he came with us, I insisted he travel with us, so I'm going to help you look for him."  
  
Trowa nodded his agreement.  
  
Yuki frowned and crossed her arms. "And if your little group doesn't make it to the opening in time, are we still supposed to seal it?"  
  
"Yes, we will find another way out."  
  
The black haired Marked One frowned deeply at this, making it very clear she wasn't happy with this idea. "I have to be there to collapse the opening, so you're taking Heero with you." It wasn't a request; it was a direct order. Heero would have gone with anyway to protect his friend, but he was glad that Yuki insisted on it. It was Yuki's job to protect Trowa until she was assigned a kingdom to go to and she took her job very seriously… sometimes too seriously.  
  
Trowa still agreed. "The rest of you get moving, we've rested long enough. Make sure you leave no evidence that we were here."  
  
At those words the group split up and began moving once again. Trowa, Duo and Heero waited for the others to take off and checked over the cavern again, making sure there was no evidence left, then they took the other tunnel leading out in the opposite direction, moving in silence.  
  
Not to Heero's surprise they soon came to a fork, forcing them to split up. He clasped his hand on Trowa's shoulder and frowned at his friend, even though he knew Trowa couldn't see his expression in the darkness.  
  
"Be careful. You know Yuki and the others will skin me if anything happens to you," Heero said lightly.  
  
Trowa let out a soft laugh, he was very aware of how angry Yuki might become if something happened to him. "Good luck, my friend."  
  
And then they took off their separate ways, down the paths.  
  
**  
  
It was strange, Duo reflected. He should have felt strange clasping onto Heero's hand and letting himself be led through the caves with absolutely no light. Everything around him was completely dark and if it weren't for the hand gripped around his he would have been convinced he was alone. In most cases the darkness around him would have been suffocating, but it wasn't. He couldn't even see to the end of his nose, and yet it was strangely comforting to him.   
  
He could hear their footsteps echoing lightly through the tunnel and he found himself concentrating on that warm hand clasped around his own. The hand of one person, who he'd seen s many sides of. The hand of someone who had looked so quiet and lost that first time he met him. The slave boy… who expected to sleep with someone… who supposedly was trained since birth to take up such a job. Duo now knew that that person had only been a mask, but he couldn't help but associate that person with the Heero he knew now. Something about them was so similar.  
  
"You were completely prepared to sleep with me, weren't you?" Duo asked softly. His voice sounded incredibly loud in the darkness, yet it didn't make him cringe. Instead it didn't feel any different from muttering to himself in the darkness. The complete black that surrounded them was more like the world inside his mind rather than a world where others could hear his voiced thoughts.  
  
Heero didn't respond and Duo actually began to doubt if he'd actually said his words out loud. But then Heero did murmur an answer, an answer that was soft and quiet despite the tendency of the smallest sound to be caught by the walls and echoed all around them.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"How could you do something like that? I mean I know it was your job or something to find out what happened to Sorata, but why that? Why pose as someone like that? Why be that type of person? Did you just need to get that close? And why me? Why me of all people?" Duo sighed loudly and pulled his hand away from Heero's, not wanting to walk any farther. Instead he stood there in the darkness, no longer touching the only person who would be able to show him the way out. But he just stood there.  
  
Silence surrounded him and he waited for a while, halfway expecting Heero's hand to reach out and grasp back onto him. Part of Duo wanted to reach out into that seemingly endless darkness and search for Heero. Without that warm hand clasped around his own he felt strangely empty… and very alone.  
  
"I want to hate you," Duo said lightly, his voice reflecting forced anger. Anger he didn't really feel, couldn't feel. He didn't care if Heero had continued on down the tunnel, because, he realized, these words weren't only admitting his feelings to Heero, but also to himself.  
  
"I wanted to hate you for nearly killing Wufei. My only friend, the only person who ever cared about me my entire life since my parents died! My only family that I can actually remember! I want to hate you for coming so close to taking that away from me! But you know what hurt me more, Heero? What hurt me more was the fact that you gave me a taste of something I'd wanted for so long, and then you ripped it away. Do you understand what you took from me?! Wufei gave you to me so I would have another friend. Another friend to talk to… someone who might actually be able to understand, at least to listen to me. Someone like… someone I could…" Duo's voice dropped away and he sighed softly. He took a noisy step back and sighed again, running his hand through his bangs and pushing his hair off his shoulders.  
  
"Someone I could talk to. Someone who might actually treat me as a person rather than a shadow on the wall." He closed his eyes and clenched his fists together. "I'm sick of not being treated as a human! I'm human too! I'm sick of people not seeing me! I'm sick of not being seen! And I should really hate you, Heero, because you know what you did? You only served to remind me of that fact, remind me that no matter what in the end I will always be a Shadow. In the end I am nothing but the one who stands behind the prince, nothing but a black mark on the wall, something to be ignored. I'm not even human anymore!"  
  
Duo felt his knees give out and he dropped to the ground, hitting the floor of the caves hard with a loud thump. His cheeks felt hot and his eyes itched, showing just how close to tears he actually was. "Why?" He whispered softly. "Why'd you have to leave… why'd you have to take away what little you gave me in the first place?"  
  
To Duo's surprise a hand timidly touched his shoulder… from behind him.  
  
Behind him?  
  
No, that wasn't right.  
  
His body stiffened and he held his breath, his mind concentrating on the hand on his shoulder and the silence around him.  
  
"Heero?" He whispered softly.  
  
How had Heero ended up behind him? Had the Marked One moved that silently? He didn't remember hearing Heero move and yet he also didn't remember turning around as he spilled out his feelings. But the hand was still resting on his shoulder and it gave him the creeps.  
  
"Well, if it isn't my favorite little shadow," said a low voice.  
  
Duo's blood ran cold and he nearly choked on his own throat.  
  
There was the snap of rock and suddenly light filled the cavern. Duo gave a small cry as his eyes burned from the sudden change of light. He brought his arms up to shield his eyes just as he felt something cold and metallic rest against his neck.   
  
He froze.  
  
The cavern was now filled with light and he was able to see Heero standing in front of him, the Marked One shielding his own eyes from the light. But he could also see the look of anger tinged with a small amount of fear on the boy's face. And it didn't take much thought to figure out who was behind him and holding the blade to his neck. He'd recognize that voice anywhere.  
  
Duo's eyes narrowed as he hissed under his breath.  
  
"Darrin."  
  
** 


	14. part 13

Chapter 13  
  
"Darrin."  
  
Heero stood frozen in place; his hands poised near his own weapons. With a single thought he made his tattoos move around his back, getting them as close to his hands as he could without tipping off Darrin to his actions. But the King's Advisor stood with a plotting smirk on his face and his blade held tight against Duo's throat. Behind him stood a solider holding a torch he'd just lit, filling the cavern with light. Heero had to do something soon or that light would draw others, but if he moved he was sure they'd kill Duo.  
  
"Move and he dies," Darrin hissed, confirming Heero suspicions. Darrin jerked on the dagger, forcing Duo to stand to his feet.  
  
Duo chuckled softly, startling both Darrin and Heero. Heero's eyes slid to meet Duo's and found those violet orbs were filled with a kind of determination. Deadly determination.  
  
"He's a Marked One, you honestly think he cares about a little Shadow like me?" Duo's voice was cold and the words struck Heero harder then any blade. He was confused. Duo was saying one thing but the expression on his face was completely different. And his words just a few moments ago…   
  
Duo continued to speak, filling the tension with harsh words. But Heero's mind wasn't on the words, instead he noticed that Duo was moving his eyes and kept on glanced down at his own hands. Heero's gaze discreetly followed and looked to Duo's hands, which hung motionless at his side.  
  
"He's just a Marked One. He tried to kill Wufei, the prince. He's an assassin, nothing more. All he cares about is the kill." Duo's hand moved, very slowly, and clasped around the end of his braid.  
  
Darrin frowned. "Why were you following him then?"  
  
Duo grasped the end of his braid and tugged at the tie which held it together. "Wufei likes me, you know that. He was using me to make sure the prince stayed with us. Using me to make sure the prince didn't run away."  
  
Once free of the hair tie Heero watched in amazement as the hair began to untangle itself. It was actually moving on its own without the help of human hands, or even Duo shaking his head. Instead the braid just slid out of the hair, leaving the long locks to slither silently in the air like snakes.  
  
Heero took an involuntary step back in surprise. Duo's hair was alive! But neither Darrin nor the nameless soldier had noticed yet.  
  
"I'm his bargaining chip," Duo hissed. "Nothing more."  
  
Darrin's face twisted into a sharp grin. "Then he won't stop me from killing you." The advisor's hand jerked, intending on slicing Duo's throat with his blade, but Duo seemed to have expected this.  
  
At the same moment Duo's hair lashed out, as if it were actually another limb in his control. The long coils wrapped tightly around Darrin's hand and squeezed, causing him to drop the blade in surprise. Duo ducked out of his arms and whirled around to face Darrin and the guard, his back to Heero.  
  
Heero watched in nearly complete shock as Duo's hair wavered around his body and shot forward. The chestnut colored locks, highlighted with a tint of fiery red, seized both Darrin and his soldier and threw them backward, much like Trowa had been doing with his vines during the battle. Darrin hit the wall hard and the light went out, the torch apparently extinguished by the sheer speed of the throw.  
  
That loss of light broke Heero's shock and he jumped forward, grabbing Duo's hand in the darkness. Pulling on Duo he led them down the cave, running as fast as he could. He felt Duo's hair flying in the air around him, occasionally brushing over his arm, but he didn't pay attention. Instead the two just raced in silence, only hearing the echoes of their footsteps and panting breaths.  
  
They had to keep running and find a way to lead Darrin away from the others. They had to get him to follow them or at least get lost. So they didn't worry about being slow, they just ran and hoped they would come to the end of the tunnel soon. Because it wasn't long before they could hear footsteps behind them, giving chase.  
  
**  
  
Trowa moved through the dark caverns slowly, his eyes searching the darkness. Around him there was no light, and the walls and path were cast into an array of difficult to distinguish shades of black and darker black. He couldn't see anything, yet he knew these tunnels as if he'd lived in them all his life. Unlike the others of his kind, who had mostly come from villages and towns all over the region, he'd been raised away with only his kind. His family had raised him near these very caves and he'd spent his entire childhood playing in them, learning his way through every nook and cranny. So when all the other Marked Ones joined him and his parents after the burnings it seemed like the perfect place to use as back up. It took nearly a lifetime to learn the caves and tunnels to their full extent, thus leaving the few who knew it a safe route to freedom and protection.  
  
Despite his thorough knowledge of the caves, though, there was still no light to see. So, at the moment, it didn't really matter how well he knew the caverns if he couldn't see where Quatre was. So, in an effort to fix this, he walked along with his vines outstretched, feeling along the cavern walls much like the feelers of an ant or some other small insect. With the vine tattoos he could feel the thick rock around him, and the small bits of moss which filled the wall. He walked slowly, his steps nearly silent as he also listened around him.  
  
He had to find Quatre; he refused to leave the boy lost in these tunnels, especially not when Quatre was what he thought he was. And he refused to leave the boy lost or alone, period.  
  
Trowa wasn't sure exactly what it was, but something about the blond thief struck him and before he knew it he had fallen in love with the complex boy. During the story time, when Quatre had been hiding among the trees, Trowa was surprised to find himself tuning the story out and just watching the boy. At that time he couldn't take his eyes off the boy, and even now, were he beside him, Trowa knew it would be the same case. What he'd said to Heero was true, Quatre did fascinate and amaze him to a point where he could stare at and watch the boy for days on end and never be bored. It was an odd to feel that way about someone but Trowa knew that was exactly how he felt.  
  
He came to another fork in the path and paused, holding his breath as he tried to listen to everything around him. He could hear the very faint echo of rushing water down one path, telling him exactly where he was. And down the other…  
  
Trowa turned and headed down that path, no longer using his vines to feel out his way, he didn't need to. He could hear, albeit very faintly, the sound of someone sobbing softly in the direction he was heading. So he walked slowly, keeping his footsteps as quiet as possible, in order not to spook the boy into running, even though he knew this way led to a dead end.  
  
Moving closer he could hear the sounds of sobbing and he now recognized it as Quatre. He nearly walked up to the boy but didn't get too close. Instead he stopped, at what he guessed, was a good ten feet away. Watching the darkness around him and listening carefully he opened his mouth and spoke softly.  
  
"Quatre?"  
  
The sobbing stopped and he heard someone shifting on the loose ground. There were a few soft sniffles and then Quatre spoke, his voice tight from crying.   
  
"I thought someone would come after me. It only makes sense… there's always someone who's sent when they find out. It's the same with everyone, they all do the same thing in the end."  
  
Trowa frowned. "And what's that?" He asked softly, not moving any closer.  
  
"They send someone to kill me of course. That's what you do to monsters, you kill them. Then they can't hurt you anymore."   
  
"You're not a monster-"  
  
"Yes I am!" Quatre spat back. "They must have told you what I did! How I killed the soldiers, ripped them to pieces just because I cut my hand. Probably hurt the boy and Brei too… I don't even remember. I always black out when it happens, I'm just surprised no one killed me right then." He gave a short forced laugh. "They were probably too afraid to cut me again, afraid I might attack them too… kill them too…"  
  
Trowa took a chance and moved two steps forward. He could hear no response from Quatre so he kept moving until he was right next to Quatre, judging the distance from the boy's hitched breathing. Reaching out he lightly placed a hand on Quatre's shoulder and to his surprise the boy didn't move.  
  
He spoke in a very soft voice. "Quatre, Brei and Hijiri are fine. You didn't hurt them… you saved them."  
  
Quatre sniffled again. "You still came to kill me, though."  
  
Trowa frowned, was the blond so resigned to his fate? Trowa could only imagine what had happened to him in the past that would cause him to give in so completely at a time like this. How many times had people come chasing after him to kill him? How many times had this young boy just barely escaped?  
  
Trowa couldn't help himself, he let out a small laugh and felt Quatre jerk a bit in surprise. "Kill you?" The leader of the Marked Ones tried to contain the small amount of amusement in his voice. "On the contrary, I think I should be bowing to you right now."  
  
Quatre definitely jerked at that and he felt the boy pull away and heard him stand up. "Bow to me?" Quatre repeated softly in confusion. "Why?"  
  
"You saved Hijiri and Brei, but not just them. You also prevented a group of soldiers from following the rest of the children into the caves. Had you not stopped the soldiers they surely would have killed my people's children. I could never see you as a monster Quatre, because a monster would never put his life before the lives of others."  
  
Silence filled the cave around them for a long time. Quatre gave a soft sigh. "They are really all right?"  
  
"Yes. You only attacked the soldiers and you saved them, for which I am very thankful."  
  
Quatre sniffled once more, but it was the sound of someone banishing his tears. He even heard the blond attempt to let out a soft laugh. Trowa felt Quatre's fingers brush up against his arm then rest there lightly.  
  
"So… um, if you didn't come to kill me…" He swallowed. "Could you at least show me the way out? I got lost and I can't see. You don't have to take me with you, just lead me to the nearest exit and I'll leave you and your people alone. Better to not put them in danger anymore than I already have."  
  
Trowa reached down and wrapped his hand around Quatre's; smiling even though he knew Quatre couldn't see it. "I have a better idea. Come with me, there's something I need to show you."  
  
With those words Trowa gently led Quatre back the way he'd come, toward the path which held the sound of running water. The sound of running water was a very important clue, for there was only one place in the massive network of caves which held running water.  
  
A very special place.  
  
**  
  
Running.  
  
Running as fast as they could.  
  
Darkness surrounded them at first but then, suddenly, they burst out into light. Duo blinked and suddenly found himself outside of the caves, his leather boots coming down on vegetation rather than the hard cavern floor. A quick glance around and he found they were suddenly outside under a very cloudy sky. No wonder he hadn't seen the light up ahead, the clouds above were so thick and dark it looked to be nearly night.  
  
He followed Heero, running with the Marked One as he was pulled forward. In one swift movement Duo felt himself being jerked forward and Heero's arms wrapped around him. He barely even had time to protest as Heero pulled him through the bushes and into the air.   
  
They were falling!  
  
One second falling and then the next they landed, Duo landing on top of Heero. The Marked warrior had managed to turn them in the air, shifting so that Duo landed on top of him and he broke their fall. They landed on the ground hard, Heero giving a soft grunt, and then proceeded to roll through the grass until they fell over another edge and landed in a shallow ditch. This time Heero landed on top of Duo and they came to a stop, both holding their breaths.  
  
Duo watched the trees and plants around him with wide and wild eyes. He watched Heero slowly raise his head and glance around them, probably listening for any sign of their pursuers. But the forest only greeted them with the sounds of bugs flying around and animals running for cover before the rain burst from the sky. Duo blinked and realized they'd come out of the caves at a completely different area then from where they had entered. How many openings did those caves have?  
  
It seemed like an eternity before Heero let out a soft sigh of relief, showing it was safe. The Marked One started to pull himself off of Duo but Duo reached up and stopped him. Heero blinked and looked at him in confusion.  
  
"Answer my question," Duo murmured softly. "Why, Heero? Why?"  
  
Heero turned his head away, his face shifting to an emotionless expression. His bright blue eyes focused on the ground beside them, in what seemed like deep thought, then his features softened.  
  
"I was becoming too attached."  
  
Duo's mouth dropped open slightly and he let his hand fall back, freeing Heero to move. But Heero didn't move away, instead he only turned his head and met Duo's eyes.  
  
"I was becoming too attached, it was interfering with my judgement. I had to leave… had to before I didn't want to anymore."  
  
The Shadow stared up into Heero's eyes as his mind tried to process those words. Heero left because he was starting to care? Could that possibly be the truth? Could he have interpreted Heero's actions wrong the entire time?   
  
With that thought suddenly everything clicked into place in Duo's head. The time after he'd been whipped and Heero had cared for him. The glares he'd seen Heero give Wufei. Every expression the Marked One had had in the castle and on their journey… he'd misinterpreted all of it! It suddenly made sense that even though Heero had only been posing as a slave everything else about him had been sincere, or at least partially. Duo realized that Heero hadn't been acting when he'd smiled softly, or looked concerned. All those times Heero had actually cared about him… he just didn't see it at the time. His surprise and anger at Heero threatening Wufei had blinded him to all of it, even when it was right in front of his face.  
  
It all made sense now.  
  
Duo could have hit himself for being so stupid and narrow minded. He couldn't believe he'd missed it, all of it. It should have been so obvious. So obvious…  
  
He didn't hate Heero, not at all!  
  
Instead, staring into those eyes above him, he felt a strong urge well up inside him. Without a second thought Duo found himself leaning slightly forward and his lips met Heero's, the boy's eyes widening in surprise.   
  
Duo kissed Heero softly, not even really thinking about what would cause him to do such a thing. Instead he just let his eyes slide shut and savored the moment to its fullest. He savored the taste of Heero's lips for the little time it lasted. He actually expected Heero to pull away in surprise or disgust, but didn't care. He just wanted this one moment to himself, and whatever Heero did after this moment didn't really matter.  
  
But to Duo's surprise Heero didn't pull away. Instead the Marked One leaned forward, kissing Duo back with the same soft but persistent force. From that moment the kiss grew more heated and both boys kissed back with a renewed force. Duo took a chance and let his tongue dance over Heero's lips, begging silently for permission. He wasn't disappointed as Heero allowed him that entrance and opened his mouth, kissing Duo back with a soft moan as Duo moved in to taste Heero even more.  
  
The kiss broke off suddenly as both boys pulled apart and gasped for air. Both opened their eyes once more and starred at each other for a long time in silence. Neither moved as they panted heavily to catch their breaths. Duo was the first to break the starring contest as he blinked and slowly raised his hand to slide his fingers lightly down Heero's cheek. Heero tilted his head just slightly and leaned into the touch, his eyes drifting halfway shut.  
  
"I'm sorry," Heero whispered softly.  
  
Duo shook his head. "We both have a lot to apologize for, a lot of misunderstandings. Lets try to forget them, and not worry about it. Otherwise I have a feeling we're going to be apologizing for a long time."  
  
Heero nodded and pulled away slowly, moving to stand up and peek his head over the top of the ditch. Duo sat up and waited silently as Heero searched the area around them for movement. Above them thunder rumbled softly, signaling that the rain was not far behind.  
  
"All clear. I don't see them."  
  
"We probably lost them in the caves, but I wouldn't count on them giving up. We should keep moving, before Darrin has time to get backup." Standing up the Shadow brushed himself off and began pulling the leaves and pieces of grass out of his hair.   
  
In truth Duo would have liked nothing more then to stay in that ditch with Heero in his arms, making up for all mistakes he'd made but he acknowledged that they had more important things to worry about. For one thing he didn't relish the idea of Darrin's men happening upon them while they were 'apologizing' to each other. Duo smirked lightly at that thought as he pulled a small twig out of his hair, the strands swimming around him in the air.  
  
Heero turned back to him and his eyes widened, focusing on Duo's hair. In the heat of the moment, Duo figured Heero had forgotten about the strange things Duo's hair had done. But now, as he stood there starring, it was obvious he remembered.  
  
"What are you?" Heero whispered softly.  
  
Duo chuckled lightly. "It's kind of ironic when I think about it. The only other person in the castle who would talk to me ends up being the one who saved my life back there. Just like he did when he caught me sneaking into the kitchen late at night for food. It seems to fit that he would be watching over me right now too."  
  
Heero blinked with an expression of confusion for a moment then it dawned on him and he reached forward, toward Duo's hair. A few strands moved of their own freewill and wrapped gently around his reaching fingers. "Sorata?" he asked softly.  
  
Duo nodded. "I didn't know it before, but now it makes sense."  
  
"How?"  
  
"It happened about a month after he disappeared from the castle. Wufei and I snuck into his father's treasure room, using a secret passage. We didn't know where it went so we just followed it and decided to find out. Well we came out in the treasure chamber and, like any kids, we played around. Somewhere along the line we bumped into this huge vase in the corner of the room, and it fell, spilling this strange red liquid over my head. We panicked and raced out of the room." Duo shrugged and pulled at his hair, beginning to twist it into a messy braid.   
  
"I'm guessing now that it was Sorata's blood, that Wufei's dad saved it for some crazy reason after he was killed. But whatever the liquid was it burnt my skin something horrible, though it didn't leave any marks. We were able to wash it off in time, I guess. But a couple nights later my hair started acting like this, moving on its own. I tried to cut it off, but nothing cut through it. So instead I taught myself how to braid it and hid it from everyone. But it listens to me when I undo the braid… like I have an extra arm, or some strange kind of tail."  
  
The corner of Heero's mouth tilted upwards slightly. "So that was how you caught the rabbits."  
  
Duo smirked and tied off the end of the braid, tossing it over his shoulder. "Do you know how hard it was to catch those things?! Rabbits move way too fast! But I figured it would be easier then trying to use my hair to strangle a deer or a squirrel. The squirrel would have probably pulled me up a tree in its panic."  
  
That got a full smile out of Heero and he just lightly shook his head. Duo smirked at the mental image in his own mind, that would have been a sight indeed.  
  
"We should get moving, it will be raining soon and we should find cover for the storm. It looks like it will be a strong one."  
  
Duo nodded and the two set off, walking through the woods. They didn't turn back to the caves, but instead headed right through the forest even though there was no path. Heero seemed to know where he was going, or so Duo hoped.  
  
He was still worried about Quatre and Trowa and the others, not to mention Wufei. However, he acknowledged that they couldn't go back into the caves and risk leading Darrin's men to them. So instead Duo would have to live with them taking the long route, which looked to be around the mountains rather than through them, and hope that the others made it out on their own.  
  
He especially hoped that Trowa had better luck finding Quatre then they had.  
  
** 


	15. part 14

Chapter 14  
  
Darkness surrounded him like a thick blanket and at any other time he would have enjoyed it, but not now. Instead of being comforting, this blanket of darkness was tight, choking him. The lack of light seemed to become a physical force that was wrapping tighter around his body with every step, twisting and turning until it was a struggle just to breathe.  
  
He could hear the others around him moving silently, their feet crunching on the ground and their hands brushing against the walls. Most were ahead of him, some behind and only one at his side. The one at his side had her hand wrapped securely around his, making sure he was being led in the right direction.  
  
Wufei frowned and walked forward blindly, still feeling the pressure build around him. He didn't want to walk anymore but it wasn't because he was exhausted. He couldn't quite pin down the feeling, but whatever it was he just didn't want to deal with it. He felt like he wanted to run away and hide, but that something was chaining him down to reality. To the truth. The horrible and ugly truth.  
  
His knees grew weak and he stopped walking, moving to brace himself up against the wall. His breathing felt heavy, a weight on his chest, and even though he was breathing normal he still felt the pressure on his body. The hand disappeared from his and he leaned up against the wall, sliding until he was sitting on the ground.  
  
"Wufei?" Annah's voice was soft. So she had stopped when he had and he guessed she was now standing in front of him, even though he couldn't see her.   
  
Wufei ignored her and reached to his forehead, pulling off the gold circlet which crossed his brow. Turning it over in his hands he sighed and gave it an angry toss, listening to the light sound of the precious metal ring off the stone walls.  
  
"Annah?" Yuki's voice called back from the front of the group, where she was leading them. The fact that she had heard such a soft sound from so far away should have surprised Wufei but at the moment he didn't care. Maybe all the others had heard too and just hadn't said anything, either way he just didn't care anymore.  
  
"Don't worry, Yuki," Annah called back. "We're taking a rest, we'll catch up. Just keep going."  
  
Wufei turned his head and rested his cheek against the cold stone wall as he heard the others continue moving. The rock was smooth and cooling on his skin, it felt good. Closing his eyes he tried to sort out his thoughts, but he didn't try too hard. He didn't want to think about the truth of the situation, it would only make him feel worse. And as of this moment he felt pretty horrible.  
  
The sound of movement before him and a hand reached out clumsily for his face, brushing his shoulder instead. He didn't move to respond.  
  
"What's wrong?" Annah asked softly. She and he were the only ones left in the tunnel now, the footsteps of the others fading into the distance. The fact that they were alone slammed into Wufei and he swallowed hard. He hung his head and moved to hug his knees.  
  
"This is all my fault."  
  
His voice was soft, thin in the air. He could hear his own weakness, which would have bugged him at any other time, but right now he didn't care. He didn't care about anything any more. He didn't care about being prince or that he had a responsibility to his people whom he had abandoned; he didn't care about any of it. It wasn't that he'd changed his mind or his personality… no this was different.  
  
He didn't deserve to care any more.  
  
"What?" she whispered, moving closer.  
  
"All of this!" Wufei bit out in contempt. "They followed me to your village, I'm responsible for everyone who died out there, for the home you all lost. I shouldn't be treated as a guest, all I did was bring a massacre on to your heads."  
  
Wufei frowned grimly to himself as she didn't answer. She didn't need to answer; her silence was condemning enough. He knew he was guilty, he knew this was all his fault, he didn't need her to confirm anything.  
  
But to his surprise she didn't stay silent and she didn't stand up to walk away. Instead a light laugh floated from her direction and he looked up in surprise, staring into the darkness around them. She was laughing? Why in the world was she laughing at him?  
  
"Oh please!" Annah laughed again and hit her hand against his shoulder lightly. "You honestly think that? Give us a little credit will you? You saw how many people made it into the caves, that was hardly a massacre, I doubt we even lost ten people. And as for that village? Well, don't worry about it, it wasn't made to be permanent. You act like you brought down heaven's fire on us, when in fact it wasn't your fault at all."  
  
Wufei pulled away from her in anger. "They followed me! Darrin's men followed me right to your people; I shouldn't have come here. I should have stayed behind and solved the problems in the castle. I shouldn't have run away. Kings don't make those kind of mistakes." Standing up he walked a few steps away from her and crossed his arms over his chest in anger.  
  
She stood up and walked up right behind him. "If it weren't so dark and I weren't so afraid of missing and toppling over, I'd slap some sense into you!" She hissed angrily back at him. Wufei jerked in shock. He was so used to Annah being cheery and happy all the time, the last thing he expected from her were such harsh words.   
  
"What are you talking about?" He muttered back, still hearing the anger in his voice.  
  
"You! Since when are kings perfect? Since when is any one perfect? You think we haven't made mistakes before? And don't talk nonsense about something like you should have stayed behind in the castle, because you know as well as I do that if they had caught you they would have killed you. You came back with Heero and the others to fix your mistake, now you're telling me you'd rather be dead? Oh please! Give yourself a little credit!" She moved forward and was now standing right behind him, barely a breath apart. "People make mistakes! Live with it!"  
  
Wufei shook his head. "I don't deserve to be in charge of any one, much less an entire kingdom."  
  
Her voice softened significantly and he felt her arms wrap around his body in a loose embrace. "Most of us don't deserve what we get, and even more people don't get what they deserve. Trowa once told me that the only thing we can do is make the best of what we are given. You may not deserve to be prince, but you are. So you owe it to your people to be the best prince you can. And if there are a few mistakes made, if some lives are lost, you should at least strive to be able to say that you did what you thought was best at the time for everyone, because that's all we can ever do."  
  
Wufei sighed and leaned his head back on her shoulder. "I still can't help but feel that I could have prevented this if I hadn't been so rash in the past. If I'd chosen differently… done something…"  
  
She giggled softly near his ear. "Ok, fine, so it is your fault. What are you going to do about it now? You certainly can't travel back in time and change anything. So what will you do then?"  
  
Wufei opened his eyes and stared off into the darkness, his mind processing her words. What would he do? What should he do now? She had a very good point that there wasn't anything he could do about the past, it was gone. He was always taught that when he became king he wouldn't make any mistakes. A king didn't make mistakes, period.  
  
But everything in his life now seemed to contradict that. Kings did make mistakes and people suffered for those mistakes, just as Duo suffered for when he'd disobeyed. After all that was what having a Shadow was supposed to teach him, that people always suffered for his mistakes even if he didn't. But somehow, along the line, that lesson hadn't stuck with him. Rather than seeing a random person suffering for his action, he'd seen that his friend suffered. So he was responsible for his friend's suffering and always had tried to fix that, to lessen the suffering and try to spare Duo.  
  
What he hadn't realized was that other people, besides his friend, could suffer from his mistakes as well. Any number of people could suffer from any small decision he made. How was he supposed to deal with all that guilt when the weight of his actions affected everyone around him? How could he possibly go on to be king knowing that every day people died and starved because of him?   
  
He knew he couldn't do what his father had done. His father had tuned out their suffering and ignored it, just going about his business. His father hadn't cared, but he did. So he would have to find a way to care and still bear the weight of his actions. And Annah's words rang true. All he could do, in the end, was make the best decision at the time. It was all anyone could ever do.  
  
"What will you do?" She repeated softly.  
  
Wufei opened his mouth to answer as he felt his thoughts set themselves in order. Yes, he knew what he should do, he'd known all along. "Darrin's my responsibility. I'll go back and make sure he doesn't stay on the throne." He pulled away from her and nodded to himself. "I'm taking back what's mine."  
  
"Good!" Annah leaned forward to kiss him, but she missed his cheek because he felt her lips brush up against his nose instead. He couldn't help but laugh at that and she joined in with a few soft giggles.  
  
"Shh!"  
  
Wufei's body went stiff as he hissed at her. He'd thought he'd heard something but he wasn't sure. In a matter of seconds his mind wasn't on his worries anymore, instead he was straining to hear the sounds around him. It took a while and he had to hold his breath until he could feel his heart pounding, but he finally picked up the sound in the air. The faint sounds of metal clanking together… footsteps…  
  
"Darrin's men," he whispered under his breath.  
  
"I can hear them, we need to hurry and warn the others. What about your crown?"  
  
Wufei shrugged and gave a small smirk, even though he knew she couldn't see the expression on his face. "I'm a prince whether I wear it or not. It's just gold; I'll make another when I get home. Let's move now!"  
  
Her hand wrapped around his tightly and the two took off, racing through the darkness as Annah led them on. Both ran as quickly as their legs could carry them, not caring about the noise that filled the cave. They knew they were leading the soldiers toward the end of the cave but they didn't have time to worry about it. Instead the first priority was getting out before the soldiers so they could collapse the entrance.  
  
Wufei closed his eyes and ran as fast as he could, praying Annah knew her way through the dark and that he wouldn't run into anything. But as they ran he could hear the footsteps behind him, they were catching up!  
  
"Yuki!" Annah yelled just as a dim light assaulted his eyelids. Wufei's eyes snapped open and he found himself outside, standing under a dark sky thick with clouds. Without warning Annah jerked him forward and both stumbled to the ground near the entrance.  
  
From behind him he could hear shouting and sharp objects flying through the air. Several cracks echoed and, as water began to fall from the sky there was a thick rumbling.  
  
Wufei sat up and twisted around, watching in amazement as the entrance to the cave collapsed to block off any passage. He could hear the sounds of Darrin's men crying out in surprise as the dust flew up around them. He could only imagine what it would be like to suddenly be locked in that darkness. But then his eyes widened and he jumped to his feet, moving toward Yuki and Brei and the others who stood at ready with their weapons.  
  
"What about Trowa and the others?! Now they're trapped!"  
  
Yuki turned and frowned at him. "They'll find another way out."  
  
Wufei glared. "And if they get lost? What if they don't find a way out?"  
  
Her expression hardened and she turned away from him. "They will."  
  
Wufei's glare dropped away as he watched her walk off and rain began to fall lightly from the sky. In that one moment he'd seen the sadness in her eyes, yet also the icy resolve. So that was what it meant to be a prince, to be a leader. To be able to make the best decisions you can even though you know it might lead to someone's death. No one had ever said if she was in charge after Trowa left, but that didn't matter, the effect was still the same.  
  
Yuki had sent Heero with Trowa for a reason and she'd still collapsed the opening, even though she knew perfectly well that she might be trapping Trowa and the others inside. She had to live with the guilt if they never made it out again. Just as he had to live with the guilt of leaving long enough for Darrin to assume the throne.  
  
Yuki didn't have a choice to go back and try to find Trowa and the others.  
  
Wufei did.  
  
And Wufei was now determined to fix his mistake and get Darrin off the throne, no matter what it took!  
  
**  
  
The cave around them steadily grew brighter as they moved. It wasn't a flash of light, but rather a soft glow that seemed to seep into the air around them. Little by little Trowa's adjusted eyes were able to make out the jagged walls and dusty floor. In the distance the sound of running water grew louder, bouncing off the walls to surround them. Trowa walked on, his hand wrapped lightly around Quatre's, leading them down the cavern to his intended goal.  
  
The blond walked silently beside him, his head hung so his eyes watched the ground. Trowa could make out the soft outline of the boy's face and knew he was lost deep in his own thoughts. Strangely enough Quatre didn't even seem to notice the light growing around them. His thoughts had to be incredibly troubling to distract him that much.  
  
Their feet stopped at the entrance to a large cavern with a steeply tilted ceiling. The sound of water rushing was very strong now, but not the sound of a hurried river; instead it was the sound of a stream, flowing unblocked down its course.   
  
Quatre blinked and looked up in surprise as soon as he noticed they'd stopped.  
  
"Where is this?" He asked softly.  
  
Trowa gave a small nod, motioning for Quatre to walk forward; he also let go of Quatre's hand. "See for yourself," he murmured.  
  
The boy stepped forward slowly, his eyes travelling over the walls. Trowa watched as he turned and faced an area of the cavern that was out of Trowa's line of sight. Quatre's eyes widened in the soft murky glow and he just seemed to stare in amazement. Trowa couldn't see the wall, but he remembered what was there, he remembered his reaction when he'd first seen it. Smiling softly he stepped up behind Quatre.  
  
The walls before them were lit with a very soft light, coming from the moss which grew on the edge of the stream. Certain properties in the moss gave it the ability to just barely light up the cavern, and there was so much it caused the same affect as if they'd been carrying a small candle. The wall itself, above the moss, was a dark gray, covered with markings made in deep red, very similar to the color of Trowa's tattoos.   
  
Simple drawings of creatures and humans covered the walls in a distinct pattern, a story. All the markings wove together to tell a tale, and as he watched Trowa could see Quatre's wide eyes travelling over the symbols in wonderment.  
  
"What is all this?" The blond breathed out.  
  
"The story of my people." Trowa lifted his hand and willed his vines to move. One in particular curled off his hand and into the air, flowing through the air to the wall. It rested under the first marking, pointing to something that was vaguely human shaped but with more serpentine features.   
  
"These are the Izardl, the ancestors of my people."  
  
The vine moved, showing the Izardl line merging with that of the humans to produce a distinctly different looking creature that looked human, yet had jagged lines surrounding it. These lines suggested a magic, a power belonging to this figure even though they looked just like a human. The same line continued down to another human looking figure, with only a handful of these jagged lines. This human though, had markings covering their body.  
  
Quatre swallowed. "That's a Marked One, isn't it?"  
  
Trowa nodded. "The Marked Ones are the offspring of Izardl and humans, but many generations down the line. We are more human than we are Izardl; thus the magic in our blood is weak. We countered this problem by taking the blood of our ancestors and using it to mark our skin, thus we have a way to protect ourselves. Our kind have always been hunted by the humans."  
  
Quatre glanced away from the wall at that last line and watched Trowa's face, but Trowa knew he showed no emotion. He didn't hate the humans for hunting them down; there was no reason to. All things killed that which they didn't understand and that which scared them, it was natural. The fact that his people were hunted was just something they had come to live with, no one he knew of held any grudges for it anymore. It was simply a fact of life.  
  
"I'm not Izardl, am I?" Quatre asked, directing his eyes back to the markings on the wall before them. "I mean, I know I said I was when I fought those guards, but it seemed like the best thing to say at the time. In reality I have no idea what I am, I just said it to scare them."  
  
"No, you aren't," Trowa confirmed. "The Izardl look human, save for the scales which replace their skin and their power. If you were Izardl, at the very least you would have scales on your body, on most of your body. But I assume you don't."  
  
Quatre shook his head. "No scales, not a single thing, just my blood that lashes out and kills others every time I'm cut." He sighed softly. "So what does this have to do with me?"  
  
The vine moved through the air and returned to Trowa's skin, melding in among the others. He turned to look at Quatre and offered the boy a small smile. "A long time ago an Izardl mated with a human. No one is sure why the two species decided to intermix but the fact is that it happened, as my people are proof. But before there were any Marked Ones, there were some different then us. These children looked much like humans, almost exactly like them. But the things that kept them different was that the level of their magic and power was too much for their human blood. When these mixed children were attacked this power lashed out to protect them from those who wished to harm them."  
  
"You said I wasn't an Izardl!" Quatre protested, taking a step back.  
  
"You are not. You are the first generation offspring of an Izardl and a human."  
  
"But my mother was human and my father was human! She said so!"  
  
"What did your father look like?"  
  
Quatre opened his mouth but said nothing. After a moment he closed his mouth and looked down at the ground, avoiding Trowa's soft but penetrating expression. "I…" He swallowed. "I never knew him. I've never seen him before, I only know what my mother told me before she died."  
  
Trowa stepped forward and placed a hand on Quatre's shoulder in a gesture of comfort. Quatre sighed softly and looked up at him with sad eyes.  
  
"I'm one of a kind, aren't I?"  
  
Trowa nodded. "All of the Izardl were driven out before the burnings, years before. They haven't been seen since, and even before then they were a rare species. I doubt there are any others like you."  
  
Quatre took a deep breath and nodded. "So we're back to square one then aren't we? I'm a monster, a monster who doesn't have a home anywhere." Quatre did his best to look brave as he said this, but Trowa could see his lips begin to quiver and his eyes became moist.   
  
The leader of the Marked Ones stepped forward and closed the distance between them, wrapping his arms around the young thief. That movement seemed to release something, because almost immediately Quatre wrapped his arms around Trowa and hugged him tightly, burying his head in his chest. Trowa smiled softly.  
  
"No, you have a place. You are more then welcome to stay with my people, we would be honored if you stayed with us… with me." He added the last part very softly.  
  
Quatre sniffled softly and turned his head, glancing up at Trowa in question. "I can stay?"  
  
"I wish you would."  
  
A bright smile moved over Quatre's face as Trowa leaned down and lightly kissed away his tears. The expression on Quatre's face shifted to one of slight confusion and wonderment, but almost immediately it changed to joy once more. Trowa's request was a silent one, one that didn't require words.  
  
He'd asked the boy to stay, not just with his people but with him as well. And from the smile on Quatre's face he could see that his answer was yes.   
  
Smiling happily the two moved to the wall near the stream and sat there. Quatre curled into Trowa's arms giving a soft sigh of contentment as he snuggled against Trowa's chest. And there they slept, protected and safe as the sounds of the running water lulled them to dreamland.  
  
** 


	16. part 15

Chapter 15  
  
Rain pelted down around them, coming down in hard sheets. The sky above was a dark black, the clouds blocking out the sun and most other light available, that was of course assuming it was day anymore. Duo had long since lost sense of time in the storm, more concerned with not stumbling over the now slippery and muddy ground. His bangs were pasted across his face from the water and he had to rapidly keep blinking just so he could see a few feet in front of him. The rain was hard and cold, feeling like small needles all over his skin. For once he actually thanked his obsessive little need to cover his back scars, because he couldn't imagine walking through such horrible weather with a completely bare back like Heero was doing. And yet, it amazed him how the Marked warrior wasn't shivering or hugging himself at all. It was almost as if he'd turned off the cold little pricks of pain and was ignoring them as he led them through the thin forest.  
  
Heero paused and gave a series of three quick sneezes; his body giving one great shiver that made up for all the others he'd been resisting. Duo entertained a small smile, so much for the idea of Heero being impervious to the cold.  
  
"We should find shelter," Duo said, coming to stand beside him.  
  
Heero frowned at that mention but soon relented. "It's a risk, to stay in one place, but the rain should keep them from finding us, at least for a little while."  
  
Duo gave a light chuckle. "Are you kidding? These guys grew up in a castle, there's no way any soldier, sane or otherwise, would send his men out into this weather. We're not that important, Darrin's more worried about Wufei. I'm guessing he sent his men back into the caves to look for our other group rather than chasing us out here." Duo punctuated that thought with his own involuntary sneeze from the cold and sniffled slightly. "Any longer out here and we're both going to turn to ice."  
  
Heero nodded and turned, leading them both back toward the mountains, but not the way they came. It wasn't long before the trees around them died into bushes, which then led to a wall of steep rock. A little more walking and they found a small cave that was deep enough to keep them dry and give a small amount of protection from the wind. To Duo's surprise he found a pile of neatly stacked wood in the back corner which was dry, along with a few pieces of flint to start a fire.  
  
Heero headed straight back for that pile to do just that as Duo began squeezing the water out of his long braid.  
  
"You guys really were prepared for something like this to happen, weren't you?"  
  
"When you live like we have, hunted by humans, you have to be prepared." Heero crouched down and piled the wood up to start a fire. There were even small piles of material in the back for kindling.  
  
"How long?" Duo asked quietly, moving to sit close to him.  
  
"All my life," he said as the first spark caught. Leaning forward he blew on it lightly, causing it to flare to life. "I don't know how long before that."  
  
Heero gave a shudder and hugged himself tightly against the cold. The fire was moving slowly, giving them only a little light and not much heat. At this rate it would take forever for them to dry off.  
  
Duo frowned and pulled off his tunic top, laying it out on the ground so the water could soak out, then he went about pulling off the short pants and now worn leather boots until he was naked. Heero's eyes widened just slightly.  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
"The fire's too small to dry us off. You're going to get real sick if you stay in your wet clothing. Trust me, I've lived through lots of winters in the castle and on the streets, I've seen what people can catch from being cold and wet. Take your clothes off."  
  
"No," Heero said, the stubbornness showing slightly in his voice.  
  
Duo laughed softly. "This isn't the time to be stubborn, now do it, or I'll take them off for you!"  
  
Heero shook his head, causing Duo to laugh even more. To think that this same boy had posed as a bed servant only a few weeks ago, a role that he must have known would end up with him possibly never wearing clothes again. And now he was modest? The two images just didn't fit and Duo was endlessly amused by the sudden shift in character.   
  
Without giving Heero any warning, or any more time to protest, Duo pounced forward and immediately went for the tie of Heero's kilt-like outfit. Despite the amused smile on his face he was very aware that this wasn't a laughing matter. He hadn't been kidding when he'd mentioned the sickness people could get from staying in wet clothing. He distinctly remembered that that was exactly how Wufei's mother had died not a year after he'd been brought to the castle. He wasn't about to let Heero get even close to that sick. So he ignored the boy's protests and quickly did away with Heero's clothing, tossing it to the other side of the cave until they were both naked and the clothing was far out of reach.  
  
Somewhere along the line Heero had ended up on his back and Duo was now perched on top of him, their bodies just barely touching. Both boys seemed to notice this at the same moment and froze. Heero took in a short breath and locked eyes with Duo through his wet bangs, which were matted over his face. Duo heard himself give a soft moan at the sight of the Marked One lying before him, completely naked and soaked, water droplets covering his skin.  
  
Without completely realizing what he was doing Duo leaned down and licked up a line of said water droplets along the junction of Heero's neck. Heero's eyes slid shut and he moaned quietly in response, tilting his head back just a bit to allow Duo better access.  
  
Duo continued licking the sweet tasting rainwater from Heero's skin. That salty sweet taste mixed with the delectable taste of Heero was intoxicating and he couldn't get enough. Not to mention that the small sounds now escaping Heero's throat between his quick breaths rang in his ears, begging him not to stop but instead to keep going.  
  
Duo leaned farther forward until he was straddling the warrior beneath him and their bare chests rested together. Skin upon skin, each wet and slick from the rain, brought a new flame flowing through his body. His breath quickened significantly and he began nibbling on the skin lightly while his hands slid across Heero's body, searching for places to touch… to feel…  
  
Heero's body reacted to Duo's, shifting to move closer and cause them to rub together. Taking deep breaths he fought to keep hold of the small amount of control he had, but Duo's touches and other ministrations were an overpowering force. Still, he didn't want to completely give in… reaching up he pulled Duo away from his neck and caught the Shadow's lips with his own, delivering a sharp and deep kiss which left them both panting wildly and breathless.  
  
That kiss caused them both to lose whatever control they had left, and this time neither fought to keep it. Bodies responded in the heat of the moment, springing to life and shifting against each other to heighten the sensations even more. Hands explored the new territory before them, pinching, caressing and dancing over the skin as the other responded. Both reacted as if drugged and intoxicated with the other, unable and unwilling to stop for anything.  
  
Duo slid his mouth down Heero's body, giving a short and sharp nibble around the neck area, causing Heero to jerk and give a soft cry of pleasure, his fingers digging into Duo's shoulders. Smirking to himself Duo moved down farther to attack the twin hard nubs of flesh with his mouth and hands. Heero's breath came in soft gasps and incoherent sounds as his own hands moved and wound themselves deep into Duo's hair.  
  
"D-duo…"  
  
Duo let out a moan of his own, hearing the passion in Heero's voice. It enflamed him even more, chasing away the last of the cold around them. Both bodies were warm and sweating from the heat of their own actions and Heero's deep yet pleading voice only added to the affect.  
  
Duo moved farther down Heero's body, pausing to breathe cold air over Heero's now hard member. This brought forth a small squeak from the boy and he dug his fingers deeper into Duo's hair. Duo couldn't resist any longer and took the entire piece into his mouth, wrapping his tongue around it like a sweet piece of candy from the market. Heero's body jerked at the sudden warmth and he let out a cry, his hands slipping from Duo's hair. Instead his hands now dug into the ground beside him and he writhed against Duo, crying out in pleasure as Duo began to move his mouth slowly up and down, sucking.  
  
His fingers moved up, lightly brushing against Heero's lips, begging entrance. Heero eagerly took the fingers into his mouth, sucking on them and licking them like they were the sweetest thing he'd ever tasted.  
  
Duo sped up his movements and pulled his fingers back, reaching them between Heero's legs. Pushing them lightly against Heero's entrance, giving the boy time to protest or at least prepare for the intrusion, he moved his own mouth faster, bring Heero as close to the end as possible. At the last moment he pushed in one finger, past the tight muscle, causing Heero to gasp loudly and jerk, spilling into Duo's mouth with a cry of surprise.  
  
Heero fell back to the ground with a moan, his hands reaching out blindly to hold onto Duo. Duo swallowed the sweet essence in his mouth and leaned forward to catch Heero's lips in a soft kiss, all this while his fingers working in and out slowly to stretch Heero's opening.  
  
"… please…" Heero pleaded softly, wrapping his arms around the Shadow.  
  
Duo hushed him with another kiss, adding a second, then a third finger. Heero moaned into Duo's mouth pulling him closer with urgency.   
  
"Please… I need…"  
  
Duo kissed him once more and pulled the fingers away, positioning himself at Heero's entrance. Pushing in slowly he broke the kiss as a low moan escaped his own throat, filling the cave. Red hot passion filled his vision as he slid completely inside and forced himself to stop, feeling the tightness of Heero surround him. Below Heero's pants became sharp and hurried as he pushed against Duo, trying to get him to move faster. Duo complied, picking up speed and giving his own cries from the sweet friction and heat.  
  
Thunder and lightning rolled outside the cave while the fire crackled and danced. Within the cave the two bodies moved against each other, to a silent rhythm accented by their cries and short breaths. The pace increased, bringing everything together into a type of energy that seemed to flash blindingly before their eyes. Both cried out the others name as completion came. Then both, well spent, crumbled on top of each other in an exhausted heap.  
  
Duo rolled off of Heero and snuggled up next to him as both tried to catch their breaths. Leaning forward he kissed Heero lightly on the cheek and brushed the sweat soaked hair from his face. Heero offered a small smile and snuggled closer into Duo's warm arms.  
  
Snuggling close together the two rolled closer to the fire and basked in it's now warm light. It wasn't long before they were dried off but neither moved to break the embrace. Instead they drifted off to sleep with the gentle firelight dancing around them and the storm continued full force outside.  
  
For the moment they were safe and they weren't about to break the moment. All hard feelings were gone and the two had finally made up. Now the only thing that could possibly trouble Duo was… what was going to happen to them when all this was over?  
  
**  
  
Quatre gave a quiet yawn and slowly blinked open his eyes. For a moment his mind panicked, not recognizing the surroundings. Stone and a soft glow illuminated the room in light greens… and someone's arms were wrapped tightly around him. He tensed and held his breath, trying to remember where he was. The person holding him must have been awake because immediately the arms fell away and he heard a soft voice in his ear.  
  
"You awake?"  
  
Quatre blinked and turned, memories flooding his mind. That was right, he was in the cave with Trowa, they'd fallen asleep in each other's arms. He relaxed and leaned back against Trowa, smiling softly and nodding his head.  
  
"Didn't mean to wake you," he murmured softy. To his delight the arms returned to wrapping protectively around him and he sighed contently.  
  
"You didn't."  
  
Quatre smiled as Trowa placed a light kiss on his forehead and ran one of his hands through his hair. It was so strange, Quatre thought, to have someone treating him this way. The last time he'd had someone hold him like this was his mother. The last time he'd felt this safe and secure in one person's arms was so long ago. He hadn't realized until now how much he'd missed it.  
  
Letting his eyes drift shut he quieted his mind and just listened to Trowa's heartbeat and the soft pattern of his breathing. He could lay like this forever, forever until the end of time.  
  
But the peacefulness wasn't to last, because beyond the cave entrance Quatre caught the sound of metal against metal. Immediately his eyes snapped open and he jerked to look in that direction.  
  
"Trowa?" He asked in a soft voice.  
  
"I know. They are getting closer. We should move so we can avoid them."  
  
Reluctantly Quatre agreed and stood up. Yawning quietly he stretched and glanced around them. He frowned as he realized that there was only one entrance and exit to the cave they were in, and that led to where the sounds were coming from.  
  
"We can't go out that way, we'll meet up with them."  
  
Trowa nodded and stood up himself, his eyes travelling around the cavern. "If we wait much longer no doubt they'll spot the light and come this way." Frowning he stepped toward the stream which flowed through the cave and his eyes traveled over the walls. "This looks to be the only other way out."  
  
Quatre blinked. Was Trowa planning on taking the stream out? But the hole wasn't big enough for them to fit through… "You'd have to collapse part of the wall for us to fit."  
  
Without responding, or perhaps in response, two large vines snaked their way off of Trowa's skin and slithered along the cracks in the stone walls. The vines danced over the stone for a moment then moved forward and twisted in-between the cracks; Trowa winced slightly.  
  
"Trowa?"  
  
"I should be able to make the opening larger, if I can get… deep enough…"  
  
"I can't swim." Quatre stepped closer and watched the vines sinking deeper into the cracks. From the looks on Trowa's face he could see that the effort it took to squeeze the vines into those small cracks actually hurt him. Although, now that he thought of it, that made sense, since the vines were a part of Trowa's body it made sense that they would react to pain just as one's arm or leg would.   
  
"Nothing to worry about, if you hang on to me I'll make sure both of us make it through." With those words Trowa stepped into the small stream and closed his eyes in concentration. The vines before him moved deeper, flowing completely off his body. Only two ends were still connected to his hands but the rest of the vines were gone from sight, buried deep in the stone walls. Trowa bit his bottom lip and pulled the vines out quickly, causing large cracks to grow around the walls around them.   
  
Quatre's eyes widened and he quickly stepped into the water behind Trowa, ready to hold on as the walls trembled around them. Trowa dropped to one knee as the vines curled back onto his skin. He took a few deep breaths and looked back at the wall, but it still wasn't open enough for them to fit through.  
  
"Your vines can't do that much work." Quatre frowned and walked over to the wall, fingering a now sharpened edge as he listened to the sounds of the armored men getting closer. "I can cut the walls… but I might hurt the pictures on the walls."  
  
Trowa shook his head. "That's nothing to worry about. Drawings like that are all over these caves, this just happens to be one of the few with its own light." He stood back up and placed a hand on Quatre's shoulder. "I can try again."  
  
"No, you've hurt yourself enough. I know I can do this and we don't have much more time before they get here. But… you best duck."  
  
Trowa nodded and complied, crouching to the ground in the shallow stream water. Quatre, meanwhile, glanced down at his bandaged hands. Carefully he unwrapped one of the blood soaked pieces of fabric to find his skin was already partially healed. Lucky for him and his power his skin healed quickly so he didn't have to worry about losing much blood or causing too much damage. But this time he knew exactly what he wanted the blood to do, and there wouldn't be any adrenaline to direct it toward any particular person.   
  
Shedding both bandages he held both his palms up and slid them quickly over the sharp rock. Hissing in pain he watched as the blood pooled over his skin, immediately coming to life. The long streams suddenly became solid and jumped into the air around them, twisting and turning, looking for possible targets.   
  
Quatre took a step back and extending his arms. One pointed at each wall where the stream entered and exited the cave. His blood, for once, obeyed him and leapt into action, charging straight for the thick stone walls. Quatre watched in horrified amazement as his own blood shifted into long sharp blades that cut through the stone like it were some type of pudding. The cave around them began to shake as large pieces tumbled off the walls to shatter on the ground. Quatre heard the sound of roaring water and watched as it started to drip through the wall's small new holes.  
  
He quickly closed his eyes and commanded the blood to stop with all his might, amazed as it retracted back into his body. Clasping his hands together he grabbed onto Trowa just as the two walls crumbled and water crashed down around them.   
  
Thick roaring filled their ears as the cold water shoved them forward, through the new opening in the wall. Both fought to keep their heads above water as the current pulled them through the caverns at a quick pace.   
  
And somewhere far behind them they heard soldiers yelling to turn back because there had been a sudden cave-in. 


	17. part 16

Chapter 16  
  
Heero opened his eyes and couldn't help but smile lightly as he recognized the warm arms wrapped around his body. Behind him he could hear Duo's soft, even breathing as the braided boy continued to sleep. Beyond both of them the fire had died to softly glowing embers and sunlight was slowly starting to creep into the cave. From where he lay Heero could see the sky was still mostly full of clouds, but they were lighter now with many holes, so the rays of the rising sun were able to sneak through and begin the slow process of drying everything.   
  
Moving very slowly he slipped out of Duo's arms, careful not to wake the Shadow yet. Stepping to the other side of the cave he retrieved his clothes and found they were significantly dry now. Brushing off the now dry dirt he rewrapped the piece of cloth around his waist and tied it off, then slipped on the leather boots. He ran a hand through his hair as he stepped quickly outside the cave and began his small search.  
  
He hadn't wanted to leave Duo's embrace but duty called. One of the problems with his people being so well prepared for such instances was that they had to keep the surrounding areas hospitable for quick and easy escape. This meant that he had a duty to make up for the wood they'd used that night and at least make a pile in the cave which would be ready in case there was need to use that cave again.  
  
He knew perfectly well that the wood was so wet in the surrounding area that it would most likely mold in the cave, but there wasn't much he could do about that. Taking one of the larger blades from his arm he proceeded to cut down a few branches from the surrounding trees and made quick work of their leaves and small out-chutes. Before long he had a good sized bundle, which he quickly gathered up and brought back to the cave.  
  
As he stepped inside and headed for the back corner to pile the new wood with the pile they hadn't used, he heard Duo move behind him.  
  
The Shadow yawned and stretched then froze, red sliding over his face. Heero watched with a raised eyebrow of amusement as Duo clearly blushed and glanced around the room hurriedly for his clothing. How odd to see the Shadow suddenly so worried about his nakedness when it hadn't bothered him the night before.   
  
Duo stood up and quickly retrieved his clothing, quickly throwing it on without bothering to brush off the dirt and leaves he'd picked up on their walk through the rain. Running a nervous hand through his bangs the braided boy turned back to look at Heero.  
  
"Umm, Heero… about last night…"  
  
Heero raised an eyebrow in question. It amused him to no end that Duo was actually suddenly bashful about what had happened. He had to admit that he'd probably seemed really silly in his stubbornness to keep his clothes on the night before, and now it seemed that they had switched roles. "You didn't enjoy it?" He asked.   
  
Oddly it never really occurred to Heero to regret the night before or their nearly instinctual actions. It had just seemed so natural at the time, and too enjoyable to stop. And now, the morning after, it still felt natural and his mind was still repeating the scattered fire-lit images of passion that he knew would haunt him for a good long time.   
  
Duo blinked and shook his head. "No, no! It's not that! It's just that… I…" His eyes flew around the small cave, as if searching for the answer to be written around the vaulted stone walls. Heero allowed himself a small chuckle and walked up to Duo, acting once again on instinct.   
  
He stopped right up in front of Duo and touched the boy's chin, he let his fingers drift down the side of Duo's face slowly, then leaned forward and lightly touched his lips to Duo's. A second later Duo kissed back lightly, Heero feeling the smile slipping across his lips. He pulled back just a bit and met Duo's eyes. "I have no regrets."  
  
A look of relief washed over Duo's face and he let out a sigh. "I honestly don't know what came over me. I guess you just looked so delicious all wet and naked." The edges of Duo's mouth curved up into a mischievous smirk and he leaned forward, kissing Heero, though this time the kiss was deeper and much more active, Duo's tongue begging for entrance. Heero eagerly allowed it entrance and the two kissed deeply until lack of breath forced them to pull apart.  
  
"As much as I'd love to stay here and reenact last night…" Duo murmured softly.  
  
"We should meet up with the others." Heero finished for him.  
  
Duo nodded.  
  
That said the two set about erasing the evidence that they'd stayed in that cave. Duo moved about brushing out their imprints on the ground with his boots and helped Heero stamp out the fire, then scatter the ashes. With the cave cleaned the two stepped out of the cave and started walking again. Yet this time Heero didn't lead, instead they walked side by side in silence.  
  
'Find what amazes you,' Trowa's voice echoed in Heero's head. Heero entertained a small smile at his old friend's words. Yes, he'd definitely found what amazed him, in the most unlikely of places.  
  
He never would have thought that the person to make him feel like this would be a smart-alec Shadow who'd apparently never had another friend in his life, save for the prince which he was Shadow to. Heero never would have dreamed that he'd end up falling in love with anyone, much less a human boy who'd grown up in a castle surrounded by people yet all alone.  
  
His life up until this point was so completely different. He'd been raised as one of the few of his people who would be sent to a kingdom to guard one of the kings, as a King's Guard. But, due to the fact that his people were being wiped out by humans left and right, Trowa had retracted that order and made Heero a protector of their own small tribe. So even though he wore the mark under his eye, the 'king' he was supposed to protect was his own people. In fact, his mission to find Sorata was the first time he'd ever been sent out of the village since he'd been born. He never would have guessed that one simple mission to find an old friend from his village would lead to such a drastic change in his life.  
  
Heero generally wasn't the type to act like this. Everyone knew him as the well-trained sentinel who was always around to help protect to village when needed and that's exactly what he was. Least that's how he saw himself until now. And then Duo came along and somehow he'd changed; though he wasn't sure quite how. He still knew his duty to his people and he still knew he wasn't human, but a Marked One. If someone asked him he probably couldn't even really place his finger on what in his life had changed other than the obvious part about them having to find a new home. All he knew was that Duo was a large part of his life now, and he had no idea where that would take him.  
  
Heero glanced over at the boy walking next to him and noticed that Duo's expression said he was in deep thought too. Heero wondered about what. He apparently had been staring for a while because Duo noticed and glanced back at him, flashing him a happy light smile. Then the braided boy reached over as they walked and clasped his hand tightly around Heero's. Heero flashed a small smile of his own and the two continued walking, hand in hand. It just felt so natural.  
  
Up ahead the forest around them began to shrink, the trees becoming thinner with more bushes growing up around the bases. Sunlight shown over everything now that the canopy was thinner and the world seemed to shimmer from the retreating drops of rain which reflected the light. And somewhere beside them there was movement…  
  
Heero froze and whirled around, tattoo-weapon in hand within the blink of an eye and ready to throw. He let to weapon fly, knowing that the movement in the bushes was far too much for a simple animal, it had to be a person. The weapon glinted in the air, flying quickly toward its target, when a vine suddenly shot forward and caught it.   
  
Heero and Duo blinked in surprise and watched as Trowa and Quatre stepped out from behind the bushes, the vines melding back into Trowa's skin. The leader of the Marked Ones nodded once in greeting and tossed Heero's weapon back to him.  
  
"You nearly got me," Quatre said with a nervous smile. "That's some great aim, lucky for me Trowa was able to catch it."  
  
"Are you being followed?" Trowa asked.   
  
Heero shook his head. "We lost them yesterday after we left the caves. You?"  
  
Trowa shook his head.  
  
Duo stepped forward and grinned broadly at Quatre; that's when Heero noticed something very interesting. Both Trowa and Quatre were soaked from head to toe. He lifted an eyebrow in question while Duo just came right out and asked.  
  
"You guys get stuck in the rain?"  
  
Quatre snickered softly. "No, we swam away from them. There's a river that runs through the mountain… but it's really long."  
  
"Oh really?" Duo smirked, his eyes gleaming with a mischievous light.  
  
Quatre blushed slightly and attempted his own mischievous comeback. "And it appears that you two are on better terms again, or was I just imagining that you were smiling and holding hands?"  
  
That comment got a blush out of Duo and he gave a light chuckle. "Caught red-handed I guess."  
  
Heero turned his attention to Trowa. "We should meet up with the others as soon as possible."  
  
The leader of the Marked Ones nodded and the group set off, without much more hesitation. Save that this time Heero and Trowa led the group, while Duo and Quatre walked side by side, poking occasional bits of fun at each other. Heero noticed a small smile on Trowa's face as he glanced back at the two. That smile was so small, most wouldn't have noticed it, but Heero knew that it meant Trowa was happy, quite happy.  
  
"You sorted things out?" Trowa asked softly, so the other two boys wouldn't hear. If they heard they gave no indication.  
  
Heero nodded, not taking his eyes off the path ahead of them. "I found what amazes me," he said softly. "And I'm not letting go."  
  
That made Trowa smile even more and he reached forward, clapping a friendly hand on his old friend's shoulder. Neither Duo nor Quatre noticed the movement but Heero didn't care. He knew it was gesture of approval and friendship.   
  
What he'd said was the truth. And he would hold on to Duo… for as long as the braided boy allowed him to.  
  
**  
  
Wufei sat silently, his head leaned back against the rough bark of the tree. He could feel the jagged pieces of bark digging into his back, but not painfully. His hands rested softly in the grass on either side of his body and his eyes were shut, enjoying the sunlight as it shone on his face. So warm and soothing…  
  
He found himself the calmest he'd been in a long time. After deciding to himself exactly how he would deal with Darrin and what he would do when he got back to the kingdom, he found an incredible weight had disappeared from his shoulders. He wasn't nearly as tense anymore, and felt so peaceful. There was certainly something to be said about determination and the sheer will to carry out revenge on someone. Not because he hated the person, but to help others. In the end he realized it wasn't completely revenge, it was a sentence of punishment that Darrin deserved, no matter who dealt it out. The man was dangerous and had clearly shown he deserved no quarter or mercy.  
  
Now if only the others would get back…  
  
That thought brought a small knot to rest in his stomach and he sighed. His peaceful state was very short lived. Still, at least one problem was solved. Now if only he could hear something from the other four, it was really bothering him that they hadn't shown up. He refused to give into the thoughts nagging at the back of his mind, he knew worrying wouldn't do any good.  
  
Behind him he heard feet shuffle against the ground and he didn't move. It was probably Annah, coming over to speak with him. He recognized that he welcomed her company, silent or speaking. Something about the Marked girl just made him feel at ease, she somehow knew exactly how to fix his mood, even when he was in one of his worst states.  
  
But the voice he heard wasn't Annah's.  
  
"Man, you look so lost without me! You miss me that much Fei?"  
  
Wufei's eyes shot open and he whirled around, scraping his shoulder on the edge of the tree in his surprise. His eyes widened as he spotted his Shadow standing only a few feet away, a huge grin painted across his face.  
  
"Duo?" He choked out in surprise.  
  
Duo smirked. "No, Fei, I'm a figment of your imagination."  
  
Wufei stood up and brushed himself off, smiling at his friend. It took all his willpower to curb the impulse to jump forward and embrace his friend tightly. He refused to do that though, because it wasn't like him at all. Plus he was king now, or would be when he got back, and he had to get used to not doing such impulsive things. He knew Duo would understand his restraint.  
  
Duo apparently did, because Duo closed the space between them and embraced his friend in a tight grip for a brief second, in greeting, then pulled away. "You look pretty worn." Duo commented.  
  
Wufei smirked. "You don't look so good yourself." Wufei gestured toward the many scratches and tears in Duo's clothing. He was well aware of how strange both of them looked, but then they were both used to living in a palace, being on the run in clothes borrowed from other people did a lot to change their looks and condition.  
  
"Where are the others?" Wufei asked.  
  
"They're with the rest of the Marked Ones, Quatre too. I left them there to come find you… a certain red head said you were in this direction, sulking."  
  
That had to be Annah, Wufei thought.  
  
Duo didn't say anything more but Wufei could see the curious glint in his friend's eyes. He knew Duo wasn't blind and if he didn't see what was going on between him and Annah… Wufei knew that Duo had figured it out. The light in his eyes made that obvious.  
  
But then the light in Duo's eyes also hinted at something else. Wufei took a shot and guessed that Heero and him had solved their problems in their time alone.  
  
Good, one other problem out of the way.  
  
Now on to the huge one.  
  
"We should head back. Time for us to decide what to do about Darrin."  
  
The humor melted out of Duo face, shifting to an expression of determination that matched Wufei's. The Shadow gave a short nod.  
  
"Let's go."  
  
And with that the two headed back to decide what to do next.  
  
**  
  
Trowa sat on a large bolder, only a few feet away from the main mountain side and the entrance which had been collapsed to prevent Darrin's men from following. The other Marked Ones moved around him, gathering up their small amount of belongings and cleaning up the area, but there was a small amount of unease in the air. He could feel it and he knew exactly what the source was.  
  
When he and the others had returned they were welcomed warmly and there was much rejoicing and many happy faces. But beneath all of that Trowa could sense what they were trying to hide. When one lived among a certain group of people for most of their live one learned to hear their actions. And he could just feel the tension in the air. Everyone seemed to be worried about what would happen now that they were all reassembled with no home to go back to.  
  
Trowa wondered that himself, a little. But he also knew that he wasn't really allowed to wonder about it, it was his job to decide. The problem was that despite how well prepared his people were, the one thing they hadn't done was stake out a particular spot to live in and fall back to if something happened to their home. Everyone knew they would have to start from scratch in a new place, and human or not, that idea was a terrifying one for many. Many of whom hadn't ever left that one area of the forest.  
  
Yuki stood next to him silently, taking up her normal spot as his protector and watching the forest around him. Quatre had gone to check on Hijiri and make sure he hadn't actually done any damage and now the two were talking lively, Trowa guessed that Quatre was recounting their little adventure to Hijiri and the group of children which were slowly gathering.  
  
Heads glanced up as Duo and Wufei stepped into view and Trowa gave the slightest of nods, signaling that it was time. That small nod was noticed by nearly everyone, showing just how uneasy they all really were. They'd all been watching him for some type of decision… and it was time for him to give them one.   
  
Slowly all the Marked Ones and their guests moved closer to Trowa, until there was a small gathering where most could see. Trowa frowned lightly and glanced to Wufei.  
  
"Prince Wufei."  
  
Wufei stepped forward and gave a short nod in response, but he remained silent.  
  
"We have decided to aid you. Whatever caused this in the first place, be it our warrior which was sent or Sorata long before any of this, we acknowledge that it is partially our responsibility. Also, you and your friends are responsible for helping us to escape, and we are in your debt as such. Thus a small amount of us will travel with you to your kingdom to help you sort out these matters, while the rest search for a new area in which to live."  
  
Trowa stopped and let his words hang in the air, giving them time to sink in. No one made any comment, to agree or disagree. Being that their number was so small it had been decided that his word was law, and it was his duty to take care of all of them. This seemed to be the best way to do that, and it seemed that everyone agreed with him. He allowed himself the smallest of smiles that most would have missed. Now came the hard part.  
  
"Heero, Brei, Yuki, Annah and myself will travel back with the group to Wufei's castle, where we will work on fixing these matters. The rest of you will head north and search for an area much like the one we previously had. Selenay, you will be in charge until we return."  
  
Trowa gave a short nod, signaling that the informal meeting was over. The crowd around him dissipated, backing away and going back to working to cover their tracks and scout the area. Thankfully the tension in the air had dropped and Trowa let out a slow breath to calm himself. Turning on the stone he addressed the small group that had stayed near him, those who's names he had said, the ones who would be travelling. He met eyes with Wufei.  
  
"How would you suggest we do this, being that it is your castle we will be sneaking into."  
  
Wufei frowned and thought for a moment. "You're right that an all out attack would be a stupid idea, and I certainly wouldn't think of endangering that many of your people. However, our sneaking into the castle won't be easy. Darrin and the other advisors know most of the secret passages thanks to Duo and myself's wandering as children. We were only able to sneak out one because of our haste."  
  
A smirk lit up Duo's face. "There is one they don't know about…"  
  
All eyes turned to the smirking Shadow.   
  
"I used to sneak and get food from the kitchen, but I could never get in, get it and get out in time. I found a passage near the kitchen, it's an old pit that I'm guessing they used for waste and forgot about. The only problem is that none of us are small enough to get through. Maybe Quatre, but that'd be pushing it."  
  
Quatre nodded and gave a small smile. "I know someone who could fit."  
  
Trowa glanced at him and followed Quatre's eyes to Hijiri, who was out with the other children. "Hijiri?" He asked. Quatre nodded.  
  
"If you'll allow it, would he fit Duo?"  
  
"Definitely. He could sneak in that way and create a diversion while the rest of us find Darrin."  
  
"Agreed. Hijiri!"  
  
The young boy looked up in surprise at Trowa's voice and quickly rushed over, looking all ready to go. Trowa suppressed a small chuckle, it wasn't hard to tell that Hijiri wanted to come with on this little 'adventure'.  
  
Duo quickly explained the plan to the young boy, giving him a very detailed description of the tunnel, where it led and what he'd have to do. Meanwhile Wufei knelt down and drew in the ground a rough layout of the castle and where Darrin and his men would most likely be.   
  
Plans were laid out and set, and by the time that everyone had the layout of the castle memorized the sun was starting to set over the horizon. Small camping fires were lit, as soon as Wufei assured everyone that Darrin and his men would have already headed back for the castle.  
  
"I was taught strategy by him. His only chance to win here was to catch me or Duo, which he failed. Now he knows we're heading back for the castle, so he'll have gone back at top speed to make sure he beats us there." He explained.  
  
As Wufei finished explaining and the group started to settle in to sleep one of the Marked Ones timidly approached the group. His blue eye locked with Annah's, the other permanently closed from a long scar. Annah stood up from her spot and stepped forward, drawing Wufei's attention.  
  
"Something wrong Shai?"  
  
The man nodded lightly. "We found something in the woods, not far from here. I believe the Prince would be highly interested in it."  
  
Wufei looked up in surprise as Shai held out his hand and opened it. The Prince's eyes widened and he gave a choked gasp. Duo and the others whirled around just in time to see Wufei tearing through the forest as fast as he could run, Shai leading him.  
  
** 


	18. part 17

Chapter 17  
  
Wufei moved through the trees as fast as he could, adrenaline pumping through his body and coursing through his veins. The image of the piece of fabric that Shai had been holding was burned in his mind as he followed the silent Marked One, everything else around him a blur.  
  
No, please let him be wrong!  
  
Shai stopped up ahead and Wufei found himself standing at the very edge of a small ditch, damp from the small river which had been created from the rain the night before. It didn't take much searching for him to find the body lying there, twisted and lying face down in the mud and shallow water. His breath caught in his throat and his knees shook, giving him the notice that they weren't going to be able to hold him much longer. He staggered forward a bit and grasped on to a tree for only a fraction of a moment, then he moved quickly down into the ditch, slipping and sliding down the side.  
  
Mud splashed around him as he trudged his way toward the body. All the while his mind was screaming loudly, yelling at him that this couldn't be true. It was all he could do to make his way to the fallen body and then stumbled down next to it on his knees. He didn't have to turn it over to see the man's face; he knew what he would find. He'd know him anywhere.  
  
But this was the last place he'd expected to find his father's body.  
  
Painful reality came crashing down. It seemed like years ago that Duo had come back with Heero and reported that the two messengers were found dead near the river. That all seemed so long ago he'd almost forgotten that his father had been missing during all of this. And now, suddenly, his father wasn't missing anymore. Instead his father's body was lying right in front of him, covered in mud and water from the storm and the newly formed stream.   
  
The older man's skin was pale from exposure and the elements, and there wasn't a single wound on him that Wufei could see. He was killed from the front… and his sword was still clutched tightly in his cold hands. Wufei closed his eyes tightly and hugged himself as realization washed over him… his father had actually been killed in a battle; all the signs pointed to it. And then someone had just kicked his body down into the ditch, leaving it for the scavengers.  
  
No one, no matter how despicable they were in life, deserved to die like this!  
  
Taking a deep breath he stood to his feet and took his father's sword, slipping it in his own belt. Then he bent down and grabbed the front of his father's tunic, tugging him. The man weighed a ton, but Wufei managed to pull him, slowly, to the top of the ditch where the land was relatively dry. He found himself alone, none of the Marked Ones anywhere to be seen. Shai must have turned back to tell them what happened… or at least tell them to allow him some time alone.  
  
He was thankful for that.  
  
Wufei worked up quite a sweat, pulling the body up out of the ditch and to a small clear patch surrounded by trees. Wiping the sweat from his brow he pulled out his father's sword and stuck it hard into the ground. Numbly his mind guided his body in digging the hole, everything else shutting off. He didn't let himself think about what his father's body meant in this whole situation. He didn't let himself even consider that others could be watching, or that there could be others in the area. He didn't care that his arms ached with the strain of pulling the body up the small hill and digging the hole. He didn't pay attention to the sharp pain in his side from not resting… he just dug the hole.  
  
When it was big enough he took the crown from his father's head then moved the body as gently as he could into the ground, dropping to his knees to push the dirt over the man's body. He didn't even let himself look at his father's body, just pushed the dirt over his face until he was completely covered.   
  
When the king was finally buried Wufei felt the weariness in his body flow through him and he wrapped his arms around himself tightly. That's when the tears began to fall, flowing down his face in small rivers and landing at the edge of the grave. He sat there for a long time, hugging himself as the tears flowed silently down his face. He didn't know what else to do, so he just knelt there and wept… for the father he'd never known.  
  
Behind him there was the sound of silent footsteps and someone timidly stepping into the clearing. A soft voice spoke. "Wufei?"  
  
Wufei swallowed the remainder of his sobs and quickly wiped tears from his eyes. A final shudder moved through his body and he took a deep breath, trying to calm down. He didn't turn to acknowledge the woman standing behind him, even though he knew exactly who it was. He wasn't surprised that she'd showed up, somewhere in the back of his mind he'd figured she wouldn't stay back at the camp and wait, no matter who gave her the order.  
  
He just sat there numbly as she approached on quiet feet. He watched as she knelt down and took a few flowers from a nearby patch and set them on the grave. He gave a very small smile at the polite gesture, even though he knew she had no idea whose body lay buried before them. Her hand came to rest softly on his shoulder and he closed his eyes, taking comfort from the small amount of contact.  
  
Unexpectantly a small morbid chuckle slipped from his lips. "I hated him my entire life, only to find out now that I didn't even know who he was."  
  
She gasped softly and squeezed his shoulder. Apparently that small line told her exactly whose body it was. "It's easy to point blame and hatred at someone we knew little of... it makes the guilt easier to live with until they're gone."  
  
Wufei shook his head. "I had every reason to hate him." A small smile crossed his face in amusement as he opened his eyes and glanced at her. "He was a horrible father. But still… the last time I honestly went to talk to him was to tell him to keep his hands off of Duo. I can't remember ever saying anything nice to him. About him. Ever."  
  
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Everything I knew about him was from what others in the castle said. The servants… the advisors… Duo… I only knew the horrible and uncaring tyrant they all knew him as. And now I don't even know if that was really him or not."  
  
His eyes slid back to the grave as she reached forward and took one of his hands in hers, squeezing again it in another offering of comfort.  
  
"Do you want me to go?" Annah asked softly.  
  
"No." Slowly his hand turned in hers so he was clasping her hand back, holding it tightly as his hand trembled. "Please stay."  
  
She nodded and leaned close to him. "As long as you want me to."   
  
The two sat there in silence for a long time, Wufei just staring at the grave before them as his mind tried to comprehend what this all meant. In actuality he'd been operating for a long time as if his father were dead and he never expected to see him again and now that he'd found the body not much had changed… except how he viewed the situation. Finding his father's body didn't change anything really; it just cemented a few things into place in his mind. However that didn't stop it from being a painful discovery and his mind was refusing to accept it. His father couldn't be dead… couldn't be…  
  
"Gods, Wufei I'm so sorry."  
  
Wufei took another shaky breath and banished the rest of his sorrow, wiping away his tears. "At least he died fighting… he didn't die from a wound to the back and his sword was in his hands… he died fighting." The words were more for his own comfort than anything else. Oddly though, speaking them out loud did make him feel a bit better, and provided a very small amount of closure on the subject.  
  
She nodded. "If anything, I can see where there would be comfort in that." Gently she turned and cracked a small smile at him. He made no move to stop her as she reached up and soothingly cleaned the mud from his face. Any other time and he might have stopped her... anyone else and he might have stopped them, but at this time the action was comforting so he did nothing.  
  
"Of all the people that I have come to know outside of mine, you are the last I can think of who deserves any pain." Her eyes shifted up to meet his with a determined look. "I swear I will do all in my power to protect you… with my own life if need be."  
  
"And what if I want to protect you?" He asked in a barely audible voice.  
  
That brought a smirk to her face and she winked at him. "I can take care of myself. Your life over mine, silly. You have a kingdom to save, I'm just a Marked One."  
  
Wufei shook his head and took a deep breath, trying to search for the right words. "No, I mean… I…"   
  
She blinked at him in confusion.  
  
Swallowing he locked eyes with her and took another deep breath, summoning up his courage. He was running on instinct, this wasn't planned at all. He hadn't even realized that he'd actually intended to ask her this. But at this moment it just felt so right. "You're not just a Marked One, and if you'll permit me I… I want you to stay, Annah. With me. Always."  
  
Her blue eyes widened and her skin paled as the words seemed to sink in. Standing to her feet she faltered slightly and took a step back. "W-Wufei… you don't know what you're asking."  
  
"I know exactly what I'm asking. I would like you to be my queen after all of this… if you'll have me."  
  
Her legs shook at those words and her arms moved, unconsciously searching for something to aid in her failing balance. She finally settled against a tree trunk and just stared at him in disbelief. "You would… really take me?" She raised her arms and looked down at them, looking over the tattoos and whispering softly. "Like this?"  
  
Wufei stood up and moved toward her, wrapping his hands around hers. "I wouldn't dream of you being any other way." He said softly, a smile moving across his face.  
  
Tears glimmered lightly at the edges of her eyes as a wide smile crossed her face. "Wufei I… I would be honored to be your wife."  
  
He closed the space between them and wrapped his arms tightly around the Marked One in a warm and loving embrace. After a moment he pulled away and gently kissed her lips, then kissed away the tears which were lightly slipping down her face.  
  
She responded with a soft giggle and swallowed the rest of her sobs. Reaching up she caressed the side of his face with her hand. "When we were back in the caves, I knew I'd fallen in love with you."  
  
"I think I knew then too," he cracked a smile. "When you threatened to slap me."  
  
Annah threw her head back at that and laughed, completely shedding her nervousness. Winking at him she smiled brightly. "Well, just be sure not to be so demeaning of yourself again, or I'll see that it becomes more than a threat."  
  
Wufei returned the laugh and nodded, glancing down at his feet. There lay the crown which had once adorned his father's head. "Looks like I got a new crown to make up for the one I lost," he murmured.  
  
Her hands slipped lightly from his as she knelt down to pick up the crown, then stood up and raised it over their heads. With a soft smile she placed it on Wufei's head and nodded. "It looks better on you then it would on Darrin."  
  
His eyes narrowed just slightly at the mention of that name. "And my first order of business as king will be to give that dog the death he deserves."  
  
"All in due time, love." Stepping in front of him she wrapped her arms lightly around his shoulders and locked eyes with him, a smirk crossing her face and gleam entering her eyes. "Now what are you going to do?"  
  
Wufei responded with a smile and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. Their lips met in a deep kiss and both closed their eyes. Annah returned Wufei's kiss with just as much need, moaning softly into his mouth.  
  
Beyond the two there was the sound of rustling bushes. Wufei chose to ignore the sound and just kept kissing Annah as someone stumbled into the small clearing.  
  
"Hey, Fei, you all ri-"  
  
The Shadow's voice dropped off as his eyes widened in surprise. Wufei couldn't help but smirk at the expression on his friend's face as he and Annah separated to turn and look at the flushed boy.  
  
Annah let out a gleeful laugh. "Man, Duo you look just as shocked as when I threw that blade at you!"  
  
The Shadow recovered quickly and a pouting look crossed his face. "So what's this? I get a blade thrown at me, nearly killing me when we meet and he gets a kiss? Where's the fairness in that?! Real harsh."  
  
Annah giggled and gave a small smile. "Aww, I'm sorry Duo!" Then, without any warning, she let go of Wufei and pounced on Duo, sending him to the ground in a tight hug as he cried out in surprise. "Guess what?!" She cried out happily.  
  
"You're trying to kill me, aren't you!!"  
  
Behind them Wufei let out a small laugh, turning to watch with a twinkle in his eyes that wasn't missed by Duo. Duo cocked an eyebrow in question as Annah answered his silent query.  
  
"Wufei and I are promised!"  
  
Wufei watched the Shadow's eyes widen to an incredible size as he glanced between the two. Those violet eyes looked at Wufei in question, then went to Annah, then back to Wufei and then…   
  
"He… you… When did this happen? How much did I actually miss when we split up?" Duo mocked a frown at Wufei. "Looks like we missed all the fun."  
  
Annah stood up with a bright smile on her face and moved over to Wufei, happily wrapping her arms around him. Meanwhile Duo stood up and brushed himself off, looking at the two in expectation, his question still hadn't been answered.  
  
"Just now, Duo." Wufei said simply.  
  
Duo smirked. "It just may be me, but isn't a grave a kind of morbid place to ask someone to marry you?"  
  
Annah shook her head and smiled. "Not to me. It's actually very sweet." She tilted her head back and met Wufei's eyes. "Sealing the past and starting anew…"  
  
Wufei nodded his agreement. She smiled and nuzzled his neck, closing her eyes in a soft smile of contentment.  
  
"Well, I guess if you look at it that way… I think I'll let you two get back to your uhhh… kissing." Winking at the two he turned around and started walking away, perfectly intent on giving them some well-deserved time alone. But Annah apparently had other things in mind.  
  
"Wait! Duo!"  
  
Duo paused and glanced over his shoulder in question.  
  
The happy red head turned to Wufei and whispered something in his hear, causing him to nod in response. Moving slowly she walked up to Duo as he completely turned to face her. He watched in surprise as she reached forward and lightly touched his braid. A few of the stray strands responded on their own to the touch and reached out to wrap lightly around her fingers.  
  
"Heero told me about your hair… and Sorata."  
  
"When did he…" Duo's words dropped off as he took a small step back.  
  
Annah smiled reassuringly and shook her head in awe. "Who ever would have thought that he would find love and what he was sent to find at the same time."  
  
Duo's face flushed red slightly and his eyes dropped to the ground. "Funny how things work out, I guess, huh?" He murmured.  
  
She leaned forward and kissed Duo's cheek gently. "Thank you for helping him find happiness." Then her expression changed and a smirk crossed her face. "And next time someone like Heero tells you not to move… don't move!"  
  
Duo cracked a smile at that and broke into a laugh. "I'll say the same thing to you, thanks for making him happy," Duo nodded in Wufei's direction. "Just don't tackle him like you did me… I swear you shaved ten years off my already short life with that one!"  
  
She laughed and wrapped her arms around him tightly. "I promise I'll take care of Wufei, just as I know you'll take care of Heero."  
  
He nodded and she gently touched his braid again with a smile. "Watch over him, Sorata," she whispered softly.  
  
"He always has."  
  
Annah flashed a genuine smile and nodded as Duo smiled back at her. Grinning lightly he took a step back and gave them both a small bow.  
  
"Now I think I'll let you two love birds get back to what you were doing… not to ruin your fun but just remember, we do have a mission to carry out. Join us when ever you're ready."  
  
Duo smirked and turned, leaving the two to chuckle behind him.  
  
**  
  
Heero glanced up as Duo stepped back into the camp area where the rest of the Marked Ones were. The small group which had been assigned to attack the castle were all sitting in a small cluster around Trowa's rock waiting patiently. Quatre and Heero looked to be the most concerned when Duo reappeared through the trees, the others watched silently, all waiting for Duo to answer their silent question.  
  
He hadn't seen the body but he had seen the crown around Wufei's head and he could easily guess from that who the body had belonged to. Frowning lightly he went to join the others.   
  
"The king," he said simply, "is dead."  
  
Heero nodded lightly, as if that was that. Quatre's expression fell to one of deep sadness, promoting Trowa to lightly place an arm over his shoulders in comfort. The leader of the Marked Ones looked to Duo as he sat down next to Heero.  
  
"Does this change the situation?" He asked quietly. He hated to ask the question, because he knew what it was like for someone close to die, even if you didn't completely respect them. But he had to keep their goal in mind, even if that meant seeming heartless and uncaring. It was his job as leader… he just hoped they understood that.  
  
Duo shook his head. "No, it just means that we can charge Darrin with plotting to murder the king, which was kind of a given any way. It doesn't change anything, just tells us not to expect him to ride back into town during our little adventure." Duo leaned his head on Heero's shoulder and glanced back at the woods.  
  
Brei's eyes followed his, watching and waiting.  
  
"Annah's with him," Duo said softly, as if sensing the question on her mind. She nodded and seemed to relax slightly.  
  
The entire group sat silently, just waiting. They weren't eager for night to fall or for the sun to rise on the next day. Tomorrow was the day they split up from their kind. Tomorrow was the day they started travelling back to sneak into a castle and try to solve a problem that they were well aware they weren't prepared for. However, they didn't have much choice.  
  
A secret siege on a castle was risky enough, but when one didn't know anything about the castle they were sneaking into? Any other time they would have had at least one spy go in to discover the situation before hand, but this time they weren't allowed that luxury. They all realized this would highly depend on their instincts and ability to adapt to the unpredictable. Not a favorable situation at all.  
  
But it was the best they could do.  
  
And some how they had to fix this. Some how they had to make it all work. 


	19. part 18

Chapter 18  
  
The groups departed early the next morning, just as the sun was rising. All knew that sleep would be a good thing but that travelling and getting back to the castle was an even better thing. There was precious little time for well wishes and good-byes before the two groups went their separate ways.  
  
For the small group assigned to help Wufei regain his castle and kingdom the trip moved quickly, much quicker then it had travelling to the Marked Ones' home. Partially this was due to the fact that travelling through the caves had actually placed them closer to the castle by a day or two. Still, the journey took them the good part of a week. It was made in silence, all of them hiking together while two scouted out ahead and behind to make sure no one followed them. They rotated shifts at night and those who stayed awake spent the time learning more about the castle.  
  
It wasn't long before each of the travelers had a detailed mental map of the castle and was as ready as they could be in such a situation. Five days and nights passed without incident and soon they found themselves at the edge of the town, just as the sun was setting on the horizon. Trowa led them to a place off the main road where they could watch the traffic moving in and out heading for the palace and wait for the sun to completely set.  
  
"We're going to need better clothes." Wufei said quietly. One problem of travelling quickly left them dirty and mud covered. While it worked to their advantage in the woods, it would only hinder them in the town… what little amount of time they expected to spend in it.  
  
"We just need something to cover ourselves, right?" Hijiri asked, pulling his blade out into view.  
  
The others followed his nod to see a worn cover sitting across a wagon not too far from their current location. Wufei frowned, he didn't like the idea of stealing, but he understood it was quite needed, and he could always visit them after this was over with repayment. He nodded his approval to the young Marked One.  
  
Hijiri grinned and took off across the path, moving quickly from shadow to shadow to avoid being seen. With his blade he made quick work of the ropes tying down the cloth and quickly brought it back to them. They worked to cut it into smaller pieces and eventually came up with enough to serve as cloaks to cover their markings and Wufei's head so no one would recognize him. That taken care of they melted in behind a wagon and made their way toward the castle.  
  
**  
  
The group stood near the castle walls, staring up as the thick stone reached high above them. Vines and moss covered the old and worn stones, but never enough to help one climb them; servants made sure of that every month. In any case the wall was so high that only the desperate ones would dare climb it, especially since falling would mean one's death. And this group wasn't that desperate… yet.  
  
"It should be that one."  
  
Everyone followed Duo's pointed finger to a small opening several feet above them… and small was an understatement. Hijiri frowned.  
  
"Are you sure I can fit in that?"  
  
"Positive," Duo said with a nod. "It just looks a lot smaller from this angle. But the problem is getting up there."  
  
Hijiri grinned at that. "Simple enough." Stepping a bit back he pulled the bladed staff from his skin and held it out in front of them. Reaching for the center the young Marked One twisted the pole so that it actually screwed apart, and became two shorter poles with a curved blade on one end. He grinned at them and walked over to the wall.   
  
"I just need to scout the place out right? And get them away from your entrance?"  
  
"Exactly." Wufei said.  
  
"Here goes then. See you a bit." With those words the boy took a running start and raced for the wall, jumping at the last moment. Raising his hands, each wrapped tightly around his split weapon, he hit them hard against the wall. The force of the impact on his weapon caused him to wince but otherwise he didn't show any reaction and was able to catch the blades in cracks so that they could support him. Working quickly and efficiently he began to climb the wall toward the small opening, while the rest of the group wished him good luck and moved on to their entrance point.  
  
The remaining eight moved quickly around the wall, racing for the place where they planned to enter. The main gates were out of the question, even if they could have snuck in with a caravan or something along those lines it would have been too easy for them to have been seen, at least by someone. As a result they'd chosen a much less dramatic way to enter the castle… one that seemed perhaps more desperate then attempting to scale the tall walls.  
  
A toilet chute to be exact.  
  
Wufei visibly winced as they came into view of the tunnel.  
  
Quatre reached up and clamped his hand over his nose. "Oh yuck."  
  
Trowa frowned. "Well, you are correct about it being large enough for us to fit through, if not a bit steep."  
  
Duo made a face. "I am well open to other options, just as I'm sure everyone else here is."  
  
The prince walked to the area under the opening and tried not to grimace as he noticed the ground was soft under his leather boots. Best not to think of that. "This is the only way in where we know we won't get caught. It's not the… cleanest route, but we don't have the luxury of being picky right now."  
  
"Right," Annah agreed. "As much as I hate to admit it."  
  
Yuki moved forward and handed Trowa the rope they stolen off a wagon on the way to the castle and he slipped it over one arm. Then, reaching up, he closed his eyes and concentrated. The entire group watched in silence as the vines on Trowa's skin danced across his body and into the air. Moving like shifting and living snakes the vines moved toward the wall and slithered up the side until they reached the opening. The vines danced over the edges of the opening for a moment then darted in between the cracks until they'd sunk in enough to get a firm hold. That's when Trowa opened his eyes.  
  
Wrapping his arms around the vines he let them seep back into his skin, pulling him up as they moved back to where they belonged. The effect gave him the look of floating upward in the dark moonlight but everyone know it was a simple trick thanks to the type of tattoos the Marked Ones' leader wore on his body. He reached the opening soon enough and disappeared into the darkness, only to appear seconds later and drop one end of the rope down to everyone else.   
  
They found a small blue headband of cloth tied to that end, Hijiri's sign that the coast was clear.  
  
Duo took the end of the rope and glanced at Heero, with an amused smirk on his face. "After you."  
  
Heero took the end and tugged on it once, then began to climb, soon followed by everyone else.  
  
**  
  
Once at the top of the chute the group split off into their pre-decided groups. Luckily for them, as Duo and Wufei had said, the chute had been surprisingly clean. Only the ground below had held a horrible stench and since they didn't roll in the mud they didn't manage to drag it up with them. There were definite advantages to entering through a chute at a side of the castle that wasn't used often. One of the bigger advantages was that they came out about as dirty as they'd entered and mercifully they didn't smell like a dung heap.  
  
As soon as they were out in the hallway of the castle, Heero, Duo and Hijiri shed their cloaks and took off down the hall in separate directions. Their rather simple job was the race around the castle creating as much confusion as they could. In the confusion they created and the distractions the hope was that no one would notice the advisors missing and that Darrin would flee to a place where he'd be easy to find.  
  
Brei and Yuki took off another hallway to find said advisors, while the rest of the group headed for the throne room, where they were pretty sure Darrin would be.   
  
**  
  
Brei and Yuki turned around a corner and ducked into the shadows as two forms moved toward them down the hallway. Shedding her cloak Yuki pulled one of the blades from her arm while Brei undid her bladed whip. As soon as the two servant women came into sight the two jumped out and dropped the women to the floor without a sound, then pulled them into a storage room not too far down the hall.  
  
Seconds later the two emerged dressed in the clothing of the servants, skirts and all. Brei made a face as lifted the skirt in disgust. "I hate skirts," she muttered.  
  
"Least we found them quickly, let's get out of here before they wake up and realize what's happened." Yuki began moving down the hallway; hiding two of her blades in the folds of her skirt while two smaller ones remained clutched in her hands.  
  
"Why couldn't we have run into some guards or something? I'd much prefer a tunic and armor to this hideous piece." Brei grumbled, following after her.  
  
Yuki just chuckled lightly. "The quicker we find the advisors the quicker you can get out of that skirt, I promise."  
  
"Then lets go!" Brei grinned at her and took the lead down the hall.  
  
**  
  
Hijiri raced down the hallway, a bright smirk on his face as he saw a cluster of female servants in front of him. Swinging his blades through the air gleefully he let out a loud 'whee!' and raced past them, spinning around to face them for a second then running on his way. The women reacted with loud and high cries of surprise followed by comments that made it obviously they'd recognized him as a Marked One. Hijiri grinned, mission accomplished.  
  
Following the hall around a corner his eyes widened as he found himself faced with about three armed guards who seemed to be on a nightly patrol. In a second the three had pulled their swords and raced at him, but Hijiri merely dove to the ground and slid between their legs, jumping to his feet to race faster down the hallway, the guards now in pursuit.  
  
Well… he'd certainly gotten their attention…  
  
**  
  
The kitchen's large doors swung open and the Shadow stepped into plain view of all the servants bustling back and forth. A few heads turned in his direction but they all immediately ignored him and turned back to their work. Nearly fifteen years of habit of ignoring him wasn't broken that easily, and frankly Duo felt a little offended. But only a little.  
  
Walking over to a table near the head cook he gathered a few apples in his arms and grinned broadly at her, just daring her to respond to him and try and take them back. Whistling cheerfully he sauntered through the kitchen out into the main dining hall which was now being cleaned from the evening meal. A scattered few groups of servants, guards and various other castle personal stood talking amongst themselves.   
  
Duo jumped up onto the main table and smirked. Taking one of the apples he let it fly through the air, perfectly hitting the man in charge of the castle's gardens in the back of the head. The man whirled around angrily and just stared.  
  
"Hi!" Duo said, waving cheerfully. Turning he used two more apples to peg two guards. "Ignore me at your own risk, fellas. I'm just gonna keep throwing these apples at you… unless of course you want to catch me and take me to Darrin, because I'm sure he'd love to whip the heck out of me for this one."  
  
At first everyone just kind of looked at him and attempted to ignore him. Duo groaned loudly and threw his remaining apples at the guards, then jumped off the table and, in a quick movement, snatched one of their swords from its sheath. This was apparently too much to ignore and the guards turned on him. Laughing nervously Duo turned on his heels and raced out of the room, running as fast as he could, clutching the sword in his hands.  
  
What thick heads? Didn't they know a threat when they saw one?  
  
In the hallway ahead of him he saw Heero come into view, also being chased. Raising the sword he charged forward and rammed right into one of them, successfully plowing a path he and Heero could take back down that hallway.  
  
"Jeez, these guys are so dense, they wouldn't know an invasion if it hit them on the head!"  
  
Heero smirked lightly and grabbed Duo's arm, pulling him to the side as a sharp blade from one of the armed men flew past their heads.  
  
"Perhaps, that works in our favor."   
  
Duo just grinned and the two picked up their speed… the rest was up to the prince now. Hopefully they were right about Darrin being in the throne room.  
  
**  
  
"I don't like this situation, not at all."  
  
"I agree, Darrin has overstepped his bounds. How dare he assume control when the prince and the king are still missing?"  
  
"He is the king's chief advisor and it is within his right to assume command, but something about this whole situation… it's too convenient."  
  
The other advisors nodded their agreement. At that moment the door opened behind them and all heads turned to see two servant girls standing in the doorway, one of them had a hand up, covering part of her face.  
  
"Yes?" One of the taller men asked.  
  
"If you please come with us, the Prince wishes to speak with you in his throne room."  
  
Eyebrows shot up and the men's expressions shifted to ones of surprise. "The Prince? That's preposterous!"  
  
The darker haired of the servant girls dropped the hand from her face to reveal a small tattoo under her eye. The advisors took a step back in surprise at the sight.  
  
"I assure you we are not joking. If you will please quietly come with us."  
  
Brei showed them a flash of her bladed whip and the men seemed to get the point. Silently they fell in between the two girls and headed for the throne room, not saying a single word. Brei led them, while Yuki brought up the rear, always watchful of their movements or any sign that they planned to do something stupid. Luckily, though, unlike Darrin none of these advisors were trained for battle and all seemed to deem it wise to keep their mouths shut and follow instructions, which just made everything so much easier.  
  
**  
  
Wufei, Annah, Quatre and Trowa paused in front of the large ornate doors which marked the throne room. Wufei nodded at the Marked leader and the younger blond boy, signaling for them to wait out of sight, then turned and slowly pushed the doors open.  
  
He was greeted with a room almost as dark as it had been outside. The prince clutched the handle of the sword at his side and cautiously entered the room, his eyes flickering around for any sign of movement. He found scattered few candles still burning from the candelabras that lined the room, casting shifting shadows all around him. The large painted banners of the pervious kings stared down at him from the walls, as if watching to see what would happen. But there was no one else in the room. The throne room was empty.  
  
Wufei stopped in the middle of the room and cursed. He'd been wrong, Darrin wasn't here, but then where would he be? The man should have been able to guess how long it would take them to get to the castle and he wouldn't be stupid enough to be hiding in his bedroom would he? He certainly wasn't stupid enough to hide himself some where in the castle so that Wufei and the others would have to hunt him down. So that left the throne room. But since he wasn't here, then where…?  
  
"Wufei!"  
  
Annah's voice shattered the silence around him and he felt a force slam into him from behind, knocking them both to the ground, followed by a cry of pain. Rolling over with his eyes wide he turned to find Annah lying against him, a large dagger sticking out from her shoulder, blood already soaking the surrounding fabric. His eyes widened in fear as he wrapped his arms around her protectively and his eyes scanned the room for sign of movement.  
  
"Annah? Annah, say something!" He shook her lightly, not being able to look at her face for any sign that she was okay. His mind flying in a panic he quickly looked around the room, but he still didn't see anyone… where had the dagger come from!?  
  
In his arms she moved just slightly, taking one of the lightning shaped blades from her arm and flung it into the shadows behind him. Wufei twisted around to see it disappear into the darkness, only to see it return seconds later, straight for his neck.  
  
Once again he was shoved out of the way and the movement was followed again by Annah crying out as her own lightning blade embedded itself in her throwing arm, preventing her from interfering any more. Darrin had thrown the weapon back at her to make sure she didn't interfere anymore. But the movement had served its purpose and she flashed a weak smile up at Wufei, because now he knew where the man was hiding.   
  
"There," she whispered softly.  
  
Wufei nodded and set her down gently on the floor, standing to his feet. His eyes narrowed to angry slits as he pulled out his own sword and advanced on the dark figure he could now see standing in the shadows.  
  
"Get out here, you bastard, and face me. I'll make sure you pay for what you've done!"  
  
The tall blond advisor only stepped out of the shadows, blade in hand and smirk painted across his face. His eyes were lit with amusement at the prince's anger. And Wufei wanted nothing more then to slice that confident smile from the man's face. This had gone on long enough and it ended now!  
  
With that thought and a loud yell, he raised his sword and charged forward.  
  
** 


	20. final chapter

Chapter 19  
  
Wufei raised his sword and charged forward, focusing his entire world at the man he now hated the most. Their swords crashed together with a loud clang which echoed around the room and Darrin even grunted softly at the force Wufei had placed in that one strike. But with a little force of his own he pushed Wufei's blade away and forced the prince to jump backward to avoid the blade slashing across his chest. Wufei did just that and crouched low, watching the man with narrowed eyes.  
  
"You should know better then to use all your strength in one move, my prince," the advisor said in a mocking tone. "I was sure I taught you better then that."  
  
Wufei let a small smirk cross his face as he stood back to his feet. "No, I would be a fool to simply use just the strategies you taught me against you. I learned how to fight from other people as well, Darrin." Wufei took a step forward and swung his sword around, too low for Darrin to counter effectively and instead caught the man slicing a deep line in his arm.  
  
Darrin's eyes narrowed. "I recognize that style. It's the same style Sorata used to defend himself when we found out what he really was."  
  
Wufei ignored the taunt and simply kept his attention on the man's movements, concentrating all his energy on the enemy before him. He refused to lose this fight, no matter what it took. Darrin would pay for what he'd done. And Darrin revealing that he'd been the one to kill Sorata only made Wufei's resolve even firmer. There was no way Wufei would let Darrin leave the room alive.  
  
Behind the two Quatre moved quietly into the room to Annah's side and touched her gently. "Annah?"  
  
The girl's eyes opened just slightly but then she winced in pain from the wounds. Quatre bit his lip and knelt down, slipping his arms under her body. "I'll try not to hurt you… but I have to move you."  
  
She nodded and gritted her teeth as the younger boy lifted her the best he could and pulled her toward the wall, where she could see the battle but wouldn't become a part of it. He knelt down next to her and removed both the blades, working quickly to wrap the wounds as her eyes followed the duel. Darrin's moves were wide and strong, moving with strength and speed. Yet Wufei's were a mix of Sorata's technique and Darrin's, combining strength and agility so that while he wasn't able to get in many strikes of his own, the prince was able to easily dance away from Darrin's blade so that he remained unharmed. She frowned as she realized that the two could go on like this for a good long time, and probably would until one tired.  
  
Despite how equally the two seemed to be matched, neither was willing to wait until the other tired out. Wufei didn't want to wait, because he knew the advisor was much stronger then him. After all, Darrin had been one of his father's top guards before he'd become an advisor and even if he didn't fight on a regular basis any more the man's strength was still a force to be reckoned with. In a battle of time Wufei knew he wouldn't be able to last long.  
  
Darrin didn't want to wait for other reasons, but mostly because of his general impatient nature. He also knew that if Wufei was in the castle so were his friends and he didn't doubt there were other Marked Ones as well. He didn't have time to waste in a fair fight. Who knew how much damage they were doing while he was tied up here with the prince.  
  
That in mind he took a chance and jumped forward, slicing his blade high with one arm to distract Wufei. When the prince moved to block the slice he left his mid section open for a split second and Darrin's foot came up, kicking him hard in the gut. Wufei gasped for air and stumbled backward in surprise. Darrin took that chance to dart forward and slice Wufei's hand, causing him to drop the blade and cradle his hand as blood flowed from his palm.   
  
Using the butt of his sword he hit Wufei hard on the shoulder, once again catching him off guard and sending him to the floor. Darrin's blade finally came to rest next to Wufei's neck and the prince froze, holding his breath.  
  
"Apparently Sorata didn't teach you everything, he lasted longer then this."  
  
Wufei didn't answer. Instead he just lay there, frozen, watching. He kept his mind alert to Darrin's every movement, waiting for a mistake, any small mistake, that would allow him to get out of this situation. A second later he registered that his sword had slid across the floor not too far from where he lay, but not close enough to reach.  
  
Darrin smirked down at him. "How fitting would it be to kill the son the same way I ordered my men to kill your father? Or perhaps you'd like to die like your little girl over there?"  
  
Wufei's expression hardened and he shot Darrin a thick icy glare. That was it, the last possible straw. Ignoring the blade that rested at his neck he brought his arm up and shoved it away, despite the fact that the metal bit deeply into his skin. Rolling over onto one side he was within reach of his sword and latched onto it, swinging it through the air straight at Darrin. The man paused only a moment in shock but still managed to block the blade flying at his own chest. Both blades ground together with a hard clang.  
  
"Darrin, you are hereby stripped of your rank as advisor," Wufei growled out.   
  
The muscular blond man laughed. "Such decrees will make no difference once you are dead!"  
  
"And you are hereby sentenced to death for crimes against the king, his heir and his kingdom." Wufei let go of his sword and dropped to the ground, the sudden lack of force throwing Darrin off balance so he tumbled forward over the prince's crouched body. Wufei ducked under him and spun around sweeping up his blade from the ground where it fell and rested it at the back of the man's neck.  
  
Darrin raised his hands and slowly straightened himself, his sword left forgotten at his feet. "You would kill me from behind, Prince? I thought you were taught better then that."  
  
Wufei's eyes narrowed and he hissed his words. "You aren't worth a fair fight. Nor an honorable death." Pulling the sword back he stabbed it into Darrin's chest, aiming for the heart and hitting his target without flaw.   
  
The advisor's eyes widened and he slumped forward, a look of disbelief covering his face. Wufei twisted the blade and pulled it back out, taking a few steps back as he watched the man's now silent body fall forward and land on the floor, unmoving in a puddle of his own blood.  
  
Wufei stood not too far from the body and just stared at it for a long time, the sword slipping from his hand to clatter to the floor. A moment later his knees gave out and he crumbled into a kneeling position, still staring at Darrin's cold and dead body.  
  
Somewhere along the line he registered the others entering the room. They had his father's other advisors with them as well and apparently they'd heard Darrin's little confession, as was the plan. Darrin's body was taken from the room quickly and Wufei was finally able to shake off his mild shock as they called a servant to bandage his wounds.  
  
A cut across his hand, a couple on his arm and a thin line, which had been sliced across his neck, were the only real injuries he'd sustained. And by the time they were bandaged up he was back to his normal self. Reaching up he straightened the crown across his forehead without really thinking about it and approached the advisors, who were all eyeing the small group of Marked Ones quietly. He noted with a sigh of relief that Annah wasn't hurt nearly as badly as he'd thought, at least she was able to stand and smile back at him.  
  
"They are not here to harm anyone, in fact they were the ones who kept me safe from Darrin's plans." Wufei explained.  
  
At his words Trowa stepped forward and nodded to the older men. Without hesitating he dropped to one knee and fixed his eyes on the ground. "If you view us as a threat you are welcome to take my life at this moment and none of my people will object. We come into this castle as friends, not enemies."  
  
The advisors stood there for a moment, simply blinking at the boy knelt before them. This certainly wasn't the type of Marked Ones they'd been raised hearing stories about. Beside them Wufei and the others had to resist the urge to smirk at the advisors' reactions. It was obviously that Trowa's act of trust and submission highly impressed them.  
  
"And you are?" One of them asked.  
  
"Trowa. I am the clan leader of the remaining Marked Ones." Trowa responded without lifting his head.  
  
"You may rise, Trowa. We thank you for protecting our prince, and for your trust in this situation. It is obvious that this town's relationship with the Marked Ones needs to be… reevaluated."  
  
Trowa nodded and stood back to his feet, but not before bowing his thanks to the older men, impressing them even more.  
  
One of the shorter advisors cleared his throat. "If you would all excuse us, we wish to have a few words with the Prince about his new… position."  
  
Wufei nodded his agreement and the rest of the people in the room made their way toward the door, vacating the room to leave the prince with his father's advisors.  
  
No, Wufei corrected himself. Not my father's advisors, they are now my advisors. He allowed himself a very small smile at that realization as the door closed tightly behind his friends, leaving him to deal with official kingdom business.  
  
**  
  
After being dismissed from the throne room the small group settled out in the hallway, all eager to hear of the final decisions of the advisors as soon as they could. It wasn't a matter of whether or not Wufei would be king, for that was never debated. Instead they were more worried about what would happen to the Marked Ones. All knew that Wufei would aim to gain them more acceptance. But Trowa knew that such things took more time and considerably more effort then one king discussing the matter with his advisors.   
  
Wufei could decree that the Marked Ones be accepted but in the end it all depended on what the people in the towns thought, and Trowa knew there was still a large amount of hatred there. Humans always feared what they didn't understand. What was more confusing then creatures that looked human yet seemed to have unearthly powers? He had no doubt that people still used tales of his people to scare each other. Fear and hatred like that couldn't be destroyed with a single royal decree.   
  
No, as much as he would have like to entertain the thought of things changing the humans were the ones who killed off the last of the Izardl. That act was one of fear and misunderstanding. The Marked Ones, to the humans of these towns, were monsters that could not be accepted. In the end he acknowledged that his people would be returning to the forests in hiding… but at least they had made one ally in this fight, which certainly boded well for the future. Perhaps some day their children would be able to return and stay among the humans.  
  
"Trowa?"  
  
Trowa blinked and mentally tossed away his thoughts as he heard Annah's voice. Turning he found her sitting not to far from him, her wounds rewrapped professionally by the servants of the castle. She sat there, leaning against the wall, and holding her arm and she smiled up at him.  
  
"How are you feeling?" He asked softly.  
  
Grasping the wall she pulled herself to her feet beside him. She gave a shrug and then smiled brightly. "I suppose I won't be tackling anyone for a while."  
  
He responded with a soft chuckle. "That wouldn't be advised."  
  
The younger Marked One leaned back against the castle wall and her smile drifted to one of a wistful sense. "We really did it."  
  
"It appears we have solved a few problems. Somehow it doesn't seem quite so impossible now that their views of us might change… for the better." He agreed.  
  
"Well… there is something else that might help that."  
  
Trowa lifted an eyebrow and glanced at her in question. He found her to be biting her lip nervously, as she seemed to be thinking of something to say. He waited patiently.  
  
"Wufei asked me to marry him," she said softly. Lifting her eyes to meet Trowa's a smirk crossed her lips. "And I accepted."  
  
In spite of himself and how rarely he did it Trowa actually found himself smiling as his eyes widened in surprise. Now this was certainly a development he hadn't expected. "When?"  
  
A light blush crept across her cheeks. "The night before we left everyone else." She paused and took a deep breath, banishing the blush from her cheeks as her expression became more serious. "Do I have your permission to stay? Here, with him? As scared as I am about it, I know where my heart belongs, and there's no where else I'd rather be then by his side."  
  
Trowa frowned softly, bringing his hand to his chin in thought as he leaned back against the wall. "You are both aware of how others will act? His people won't like this."  
  
"I am well aware of that. I'm not so sure if he's thought this completely through but I can't ignore the fact that I love him."  
  
Trowa stood there for a moment, turning her words over in his head. After a long silence he pushed away from the wall and stepped closer to her, placing his hand gently on her uninjured shoulder. "I'm not asking you to forget him or how you feel about him. I just want to be sure you're aware of what could happen. There is danger in this."  
  
"I know. Like I said I'm frightened. But I will not back down."  
  
"If this is what you want…" Trowa's lips curved into a small smile. "Then you have my support. The whole way."  
  
Annah's eyes widened in surprise. "Y-you mean it Trowa?"  
  
He nodded. "Our kind can't hide forever and I certainly don't want us to. This may be one of the best ways to move toward changing that. Besides," he added with a small smirk, "I'd be a fool if I didn't see how happy he makes you."  
  
"Trowa, thank you!" She smiled brightly and quickly wiped away the tears gathering at the side of her eyes. "This could be our first real chance to unite humans and Marked Ones… to make them stop hating us. I know it'll be difficult, but it's a chance I am willing to take. I only hope that I can be half the leader you are."  
  
"I doubt you'll have a problem with that. But don't stay with him just for us, do it for yourself, Annah. Make this decision because it will make you happy, then worry about us."  
  
"Of course," she said with a nod and a smile. "I know, believe me. I love Wufei more than I could ever say."  
  
The leader of the Marked Ones moved forward and gently wrapped his arms around her. "Then I wish you all the happiness in the world."  
  
She hugged him back, tightly. "Thank you Trowa, for everything. Thank you so much."  
  
He took a step back and a more serious expression crossed his face. "You do realize that I will still have to assign someone to stay here… as the new protector."  
  
Annah smirked right back at him. "Well, actually I have an idea about that." Leaning forward she whispered something into his ear and smiled brightly as his eyes widened.   
  
Trowa took a step back and just looked at her for a moment, then he shook his head lightly. "I am inclined to agree with that one, and I'm sure she will not have any complaints about it."  
  
Annah grinned and gave a small nod as the door opened behind them and Wufei stepped out with his advisors. "I'll never forget everything you taught me."  
  
"I'm sure you'll make a very wise and beautiful queen."  
  
At that one Annah blushed, just slightly. Leaning forward she placed a soft friendly kiss on Trowa's cheek then flashed him a bright smile. "I should go check on him." Turning she started to make her way toward the throne room doors where the prince stood, but her steps paused. After a moment she glanced back at Trowa, who raised an eyebrow at her in question.   
  
She only gave him a smirk as warning, before she whirled around and tackled him to the ground, hugging him tightly. She giggled loudly and heard Wufei laugh behind her as the advisors just stared in surprise. Even Trowa responded with a small laugh, hugging her back tightly before they both stood up once more.  
  
**  
  
The rest of the hours passed quickly and a day later all were soon found in the throne room. The advisors had been told of Wufei's engagement, and even though they weren't too pleased in the beginning they soon reluctantly agreed. After all, as Annah and Wufei pointed out, the first step toward a treaty and understanding between different people was to connect them together in some way. And what better connection to make then by marriage?   
  
So the marriage was allowed and scheduled to take place after a month of planning and decorating. By then, hopefully, the citizens of the town would be used to the fact that their old king was dead and their new king was marrying a Marked One. All agreed that these changes were best made slowly, as not to spark another incident like the Burnings.  
  
That left only a few minor things to take care of.  
  
That morning found them all in the throne room, their worn clothes replaced with castle finery. All the Marked Ones, as was their style, wore little clothing, showing off their tattoos in plain sight, and the servants seemed to be getting used to this. Duo was back in his Shadow's clothes, and back to being ignored by everyone but his new close friends. Wufei sat on the throne while Annah stood to one side of him and Trowa at the other, with Quatre standing a few steps behind him, smiling softly. All the others stood before them, waiting quietly.  
  
With a nod from Wufei, the leader of the Marked Ones took a step forward to address everyone. Mainly his eyes focused on the advisors though.  
  
"As you may or may not know it is our custom, since even before the Burnings, to assign a Marked One to each kingdom to ensure the safety of our kind and to make sure that no others suffer what our kind have gone through. However, it has been brought to our attention that this kingdom is a special exception." He paused and turned so that he was facing everyone, including Wufei and Annah.  
  
"In most cases the ruling members of these kingdoms do not know who we send, for their safety and for ours. Since Wufei already knows of us this can not be helped. I have already agreed to let Annah stay here but I must also assign a King Protector who is specially trained for the job."  
  
His eyes slid over the small group and stopped on Yuki, who stood there silently, watching him back. Moving very slowly Yuki's hand reached over and clasped tightly around Brei's, though her face betrayed nothing. The movement was small, and most would not have noticed it had they not known ahead of time. Brei's expression, on the other hand, fell and she dropped her eyes so that her hair shaded them from sight. Her fingers intertwined with Yuki's tightly in response.  
  
"Yuki, I hereby assign you to protect this kingdom and it's people." Trowa said in a steady voice.  
  
The black haired Marked One nodded, once.  
  
"However, it has also been requested that I assign someone to look after and protect Annah while she stays here. And for this I also request that Brei would stay here as well."  
  
At those words Brei's head shot up and she stared at Trowa in disbelief. Taking a few steps forward she stared at him. "You mean…"  
  
Trowa flashed her a warm smile. "I wouldn't dream of separating you two. If you wish to stay you have my full permission to stay with Yuki."  
  
Brei's eyes widened and a bright smile slid over her face. Cheering loudly she turned and wrapped her arms around Yuki tightly, who smiled and hugged her back, looking to be just as cheerful in her own fashion.  
  
Hijiri frowned. "Wait a second, you mean I have to travel back to the forest with everyone else and leave all the girls here? Man, why are they so lucky?"  
  
Duo chuckled and punched the young Marked One lightly in the shoulder. "Naw, you wouldn't like castle life anyway. It's far too stuffy in here. Trust me, the forest is much better."  
  
He frowned. "If you say so." But the frown wasn't completely sincere and it was pretty easy to see he was happy for them as well.  
  
Turning back to the new King Trowa gave a light bow. "And with those matters settled, I'm afraid we must make our way back to my people. They will need our help rebuilding."  
  
Wufei nodded and stood up from the throne, taking the steps to close the distance between them. Smiling lightly he embraced Trowa, then stepped back and shook the Marked leader's hand firmly. "Thank you for all your help. And I hope you know that however others may react, you always have a place at this castle if need be."  
  
Trowa nodded and clasped the hand back. "That is most appreciated, your highness."  
  
"Don't stay away for too long," Annah said softly.  
  
Quatre grinned. "Oh, I'll make sure we come back and visit, don't worry about that."  
  
**  
  
Wufei stood in the room silently, looking around as a small breeze flew in through the window. It seemed like such a long time ago that he'd seen his own room, how long had it been since Heero had woken him up in bed with a blade pressed to his neck… the event that started all this.  
  
The newly crowned king smiled softly at the events since then as he walked over to his bed and took the heavy crown from his forehead. Turning it over in his hands he looked over the jewels. It all seemed too surreal to him. He'd been raised his entire life to wear this crown, but yet he'd never really been able to imagine himself wearing it until now. Now it just felt right.  
  
Behind him there was a soft knock on the door and he turned to see Duo step in silently, sliding the door shut behind him.  
  
"Duo," Wufei said with a smile.  
  
His Shadow offered a grin back. "So where's your wife?" He asked.  
  
Wufei chuckled. "She's speaking with the others before they leave, saying good bye. I had thought you'd be with Heero-" Wufei cut himself even as the word slipped out and mentally scolded himself for it as he saw the grin fade from Duo's face. "I'm sorry Duo, I shouldn't have…"  
  
"No," he shook his head. "Actually, that's partially what I wanted to talk to you about, Fei." The Shadow paused and tugged on the end of his braid for a moment, then he took a deep breath and lifted his eyes back to his friend. "I can't stay here," he said softly.  
  
Wufei blinked in surprise.  
  
"I can't stay here," Duo repeated, more firm this time. "It's not that I don't appreciate everything, but face it Fei. I'll always be a Shadow here, no matter who is king."  
  
"No, Duo. The first thing I'm going to do tomorrow is get rid of that stupid system. No one will ever be a Shadow again, ever. I won't let it happen."  
  
Duo shook his head. "You can't change people's mind with a simple decree. And this isn't the same as getting people to possibly accept the Marked Ones again." Walking to the window he leaned against the sill, looking down to the buildings below. "Face it, Fei, everyone in that town and in this castle has been told and ordered to ignore me. It was a royal decree, something that could have threatened their lives had they not followed it. Something that we've all lived with for so long… you can't change that many years of habitual behavior with one decree and I don't expect you to just for one person, no matter how close of friends we are."  
  
Wufei frowned. "Then what would you like me to do?"  
  
"Exactly what you said," he said, turning back with a grin. "Get rid of this silly Shadow system, do you know how hot it is to walk around in completely dark clothes, even in the summer?"  
  
That brought a chuckle from Wufei's lips and he smiled at his friend, though it was tinged with sadness. "You're going back with them aren't you?"  
  
Duo nodded slowly. "I'm not a Shadow there, Fei. I'm not a freak because of my hair or the scars on my back. I am simply myself. I kind of got used to that."  
  
"And?"  
  
Duo smirked. "And I think Heero would be pissed if I stayed here away from him after admitting that I'd fallen in love with him and stuff." He shrugged and winked at Wufei. "Looks like we both got lucky on this trip. You got yourself a beautiful queen and I got myself a stoic and sexy boyfriend."  
  
Wufei laughed. "Yes, it did all appear to turn out for the best."  
  
Duo stepped forward and took his friend's hand, clasping it tightly. "Now don't you dare do anything stupid while I'm gone, you know I'll be coming back to check on you."  
  
"You had better, in fact I'd order you to if I didn't already know that you would anyway."  
  
"Good luck Fei."  
  
"And good luck to you, old friend."  
  
**  
  
The Marked Ones set out that night, heading away from the castle and city on freshly saddled horses. Each had their own horse save for Hijiri who happily rode with Quatre and the two were already preparing to talk the whole way back.  
  
From above them, on one of the many balconies of the castle, stood those who'd decided to stay in the castle. Yuki and Brei stood behind a very happy soon-to-be-wed royal couple, all smiling and waving as their friends took off down the road.  
  
Before them a setting sun, and days of travel. Both groups would have a lot of work to do -- be it rebuilding a home or patching up relations between races -- but both were looking forward to the work. Both were jobs a long time in coming, and it seemed that the results would turn out for the better, and perhaps even make it so that the Marked Ones wouldn't have to hide anymore.  
  
Couples brought together despite feelings of hatred in beginning and differences erased. Hopefully they could patch their homes just as well. In either case, it was a good beginning, despite the long journey and hard work still ahead.  
  
owari 


End file.
